[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 13, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 90072-90120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29328]



[[Page 90071]]

Vol. 81

Tuesday,

No. 239

December 13, 2016

Part II





Department of Energy





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10 CFR Parts 429 and 430





Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for 
Residential Dishwashers; Final Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 239 / Tuesday, December 13, 2016 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 90072]]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

10 CFR Parts 429 and 430

[Docket Number EERE-2014-BT-STD-0021]
RIN 1904-AD24


Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for 
Residential Dishwashers

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA or the 
Act), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various 
consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, 
including residential dishwashers. EPCA also requires the U.S. 
Department of Energy (DOE) to periodically determine whether more-
stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and 
economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. 
In this final rule, DOE has determined that more stringent residential 
dishwasher standards would not be economically justified, and, thus, 
does not amend its energy conservation standards for residential 
dishwashers. DOE also eliminates an obsolete dishwasher test procedure 
that is no longer used to demonstrate compliance with the existing 
energy conservation standards.

DATES: This rule is effective January 12, 2017. The incorporation by 
reference of the standards listed in this rule was approved by the 
Director of the Federal Register on December 17, 2012.

ADDRESSES: This rulemaking can be identified by docket number EERE-
2014-BT-STD-0021 and/or regulatory information number (RIN) 1904-AD24.
    Docket: The docket, which includes Federal Register notices, public 
meeting attendee lists and transcripts, comments, and other supporting 
documents/materials, is available for review at www.regulations.gov. 
All documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov 
index. However, some documents listed in the index, such as those 
containing information that is exempt from public disclosure, may not 
be publicly available, such as those containing information that is 
exempt from public disclosure.
    The docket Web page can be found at: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EERE-2014-BT-STD-0021. The docket Web page contains simple 
instructions on how to access all documents, including public comments, 
in the docket.
    For further information on how to review the docket, contact the 
Appliance and Equipment Standards Program staff at (202) 586-6636 or by 
email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Mr. Bryan Berringer, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Office, EE-5B, 
1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: 
(202) 586-0371. Email: [email protected].
    Ms. Elizabeth Kohl, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the 
General Counsel, GC-33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 
20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 586-7796. Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Synopsis of the Final Rule
II. Introduction
    A. Authority
    B. Background
    1. Current Standards
    2. History of Standards Rulemaking for Residential Dishwashers
III. General Discussion
    A. Product Classes and Scope of Coverage
    B. Test Procedure
    C. Technological Feasibility
    1. General
    2. Maximum Technologically Feasible Levels
    D. Energy Savings
    1. Determination of Savings
    2. Significance of Savings
    E. Economic Justification
    1. Specific Criteria
    a. Economic Impact on Manufacturers and Consumers
    b. Savings in Operating Costs Compared To Increase in Price
    c. Energy Savings
    d. Lessening of Utility or Performance of Products
    e. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition
    f. Need for National Energy Conservation
    g. Other Factors
    2. Rebuttable Presumption
    F. Other Issues
IV. Methodology and Revisions to the Analyses Employed in the 2014 
Proposed Rule
    A. Market and Technology Assessment
    B. Screening Analysis
    1. Screened-Out Technologies
    2. Remaining Technologies
    C. Engineering Analysis
    1. Efficiency Levels
    a. Data Sources
    b. Consumer Utility
    c. Final Rule Efficiency Levels
    2. Manufacturer Production Cost Estimates
    D. Markups Analysis
    E. Energy and Water Use Analysis
    F. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period Analysis
    1. Product Cost
    2. Installation Cost
    3. Annual Energy and Water Consumption
    4. Energy Prices
    5. Water and Wastewater Prices
    6. Maintenance and Repair Costs
    7. Product Lifetime
    8. Discount Rates
    9. Efficiency Distribution in the No-New-Standards Case
    10. Payback Period Analysis
    G. Shipments Analysis
    H. National Impact Analysis
    1. Product Efficiency Trends
    2. National Energy and Water Savings
    3. Net Present Value Analysis
    I. Consumer Subgroup Analysis
    J. Manufacturer Impact Analysis
    1. Overview
    2. Government Regulatory Impact Model and Key Inputs
    a. Manufacturer Production Costs
    b. Shipments Projections
    c. Product and Capital Conversion Costs
    d. Markup Scenarios
    3. Discussion of Comments
    4. Manufacturer Interviews
    K. Emissions Analysis
    L. Monetizing Carbon Dioxide and Other Emissions Impacts
    1. Social Cost of Carbon
    a. Monetizing Carbon Dioxide Emissions
    b. Development of Social Cost of Carbon Values
    c. Current Approach and Key Assumptions
    2. Social Cost of Other Air Pollutants
    M. Utility Impact Analysis
    N. Employment Impact Analysis
V. Analytical Results and Conclusions
    A. Trial Standard Levels
    B. Economic Justification and Energy Savings
    1. Economic Impacts on Individual Consumers
    a. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period
    b. Consumer Subgroup Analysis
    c. Rebuttable Presumption Payback
    2. Economic Impacts on Manufacturers
    a. Industry Cash Flow Analysis Results
    b. Direct Impacts on Employment
    c. Impacts on Manufacturing Capacity
    d. Impacts on Sub-Groups of Manufacturers
    e. Cumulative Regulatory Burden
    3. National Impact Analysis
    a. Significance of Energy Savings
    b. Net Present Value of Consumer Costs and Benefits
    c. Indirect Impacts on Employment
    4. Impact on Utility or Performance of Products
    5. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition
    6. Need of the Nation To Conserve Energy
    7. Other Factors
    8. Summary of National Economic Impacts
    C. Conclusion
VI. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review
    A. Review Under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
    B. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act
    C. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act

[[Page 90073]]

    D. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
    E. Review Under Executive Order 13132
    F. Review Under Executive Order 12988
    G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
    H. Review Under the Treasury and General Government 
Appropriations Act, 1999
    I. Review Under Executive Order 12630
    J. Review Under the Treasury and General Government 
Appropriations Act, 2001
    K. Review Under Executive Order 13211
    L. Review Under the Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review
    M. Congressional Notification
VII. Approval of the Office of the Secretary

I. Synopsis of the Final Rule

    Title III, Part B \1\ of EPCA, Public Law 94-163 (42 U.S.C. 6291-
6309, as codified) established the Energy Conservation Program for 
Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles.\2\ This program covers most 
major household appliances, including the residential dishwashers that 
are the subject of this document. (42 U.S.C. 6292(a)(6)) EPCA, as 
amended, prescribed energy conservation standards for residential 
dishwashers and directed DOE to conduct additional rulemakings to 
determine whether to amend those standards. (42 U.S.C. 6295(g)(1) and 
(10)(A) and (B)) DOE is issuing this final rule pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 
6295(m), which states that DOE must periodically review its already 
established energy conservation standards for a covered product not 
later than 6 years after issuance of any final rule establishing or 
amending such standards. As a result of such review, DOE must either 
publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the standards or 
publish a notice of determination indicating that the existing 
standards do not need to be amended. (42 U.S.C. 6295(m)(1)(A) and (B))
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    \1\ For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. Code, 
Part B was redesignated Part A.
    \2\ All references to EPCA in this document refer to the statute 
as amended through the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015, 
Public Law 114-11 (Apr. 30, 2015).
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    Based on the evidence summarized in section V.C of this document, 
the Secretary has determined that amended standards for residential 
dishwashers are not economically justified. Specifically, the Secretary 
has determined that the benefits of energy savings, positive net 
present value of consumer benefits, and emission reductions of more-
stringent standards are outweighed by the economic burden on over half 
of dishwasher consumers. Furthermore, the impacts on manufacturers, 
including the conversion costs and profit margin impacts, could result 
in a large reduction in industry net present value. Therefore, DOE has 
determined not to amend the energy conservation standards for 
residential dishwashers.
    DOE is eliminating an obsolete dishwasher test procedure in 
appendix C that is no longer used to demonstrate compliance with 
existing energy conservation standards. DOE is making corresponding 
amendments to 10 CFR 429 and 430.23 to remove references to the 
eliminated appendix C. DOE is also amending the introductory note to 
the current test procedure at title 10 of the CFR part 430, subpart B, 
appendix C1 (appendix C1) to clarify that it shall be used to determine 
compliance with energy conservation standards and to make any 
representations related to energy and/or water consumption.

II. Introduction

A. Authority

    Pursuant to EPCA, DOE's energy conservation program for covered 
products consists essentially of four parts: (1) Testing, (2) labeling, 
(3) the establishment of Federal energy conservation standards, and (4) 
certification and enforcement procedures. The Federal Trade Commission 
(FTC) is primarily responsible for labeling, and DOE implements the 
remainder of the program. Manufacturers of covered products must use 
the prescribed DOE test procedure as the basis for certifying to DOE 
that their products comply with the applicable energy conservation 
standards adopted under EPCA and when making representations to the 
public regarding the energy use or efficiency of those products. (42 
U.S.C. 6293(c) and 6295(s)) Similarly, DOE must use these test 
procedures to determine whether the products comply with standards 
adopted pursuant to EPCA. (42 U.S.C. 6295(s)) The DOE test procedures 
for residential dishwashers are included in appendix C1.
    DOE must follow specific statutory criteria for prescribing new or 
amended standards for covered products, including residential 
dishwashers. Any new or amended standard for a covered product must be 
designed to achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that 
is technologically feasible and economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(o)(2)(A) and (3)(B)) Furthermore, DOE may not adopt any standard 
that would not result in the significant conservation of energy. (42 
U.S.C. 6295(o)(3)) In deciding whether a proposed standard is 
economically justified, DOE must determine whether the benefits of the 
standard exceed its burdens. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)) DOE must make 
this determination after receiving comments on the proposed standard, 
and by considering, to the greatest extent practicable, the following 
seven statutory factors:
    (1) The economic impact of the standard on manufacturers and 
consumers of the products subject to the standard;
    (2) The savings in operating costs throughout the estimated average 
life of the covered products in the type (or class) compared to any 
increase in the price, initial charges, or maintenance expenses for the 
covered products that are likely to result from the standard;
    (3) The total projected amount of energy (or as applicable, water) 
savings likely to result directly from the standard;
    (4) Any lessening of the utility or the performance of the covered 
products likely to result from the standard;
    (5) The impact of any lessening of competition, as determined in 
writing by the Attorney General, that is likely to result from the 
standard;
    (6) The need for national energy and water conservation; and
    (7) Other factors the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) considers 
relevant. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(I)-(VII))
    Further, EPCA, as codified, establishes a rebuttable presumption 
that a standard is economically justified if the Secretary finds that 
the additional cost to the consumer of purchasing a product complying 
with an energy conservation standard level will be less than three 
times the value of the energy savings during the first year that the 
consumer will receive as a result of the standard, as calculated under 
the applicable test procedure. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(iii))
    EPCA, as codified, also contains what is known as an ``anti-
backsliding'' provision, which prevents the Secretary from prescribing 
any amended standard that either increases the maximum allowable energy 
use or decreases the minimum required energy efficiency of a covered 
product. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(1)) Also, the Secretary may not prescribe 
an amended or new standard if interested persons have established by a 
preponderance of the evidence that the standard is likely to result in 
the unavailability in the United States in any covered product type (or 
class) of performance characteristics (including reliability), 
features, sizes, capacities, and volumes that are substantially the 
same as those generally available in the United States. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(o)(4))
    Additionally, EPCA specifies requirements when promulgating an 
energy conservation standard for a

[[Page 90074]]

covered product that has two or more subcategories. DOE must specify a 
different standard level for a type or class of product that has the 
same function or intended use if DOE determines that products within 
such group: (A) Consume a different kind of energy from that consumed 
by other covered products within such type (or class); or (B) have a 
capacity or other performance-related feature which other products 
within such type (or class) do not have and such feature justifies a 
higher or lower standard. (42 U.S.C. 6295(q)(1)) In determining whether 
a performance-related feature justifies a different standard for a 
group of products, DOE must consider such factors as the utility to the 
consumer of the feature and other factors DOE deems appropriate. Id. 
Any rule prescribing such a standard must include an explanation of the 
basis on which such higher or lower level was established. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(q)(2))
    Federal energy conservation requirements generally supersede State 
laws or regulations concerning energy conservation testing, labeling, 
and standards. (42 U.S.C. 6297(a)-(c)) DOE may, however, grant waivers 
of Federal preemption for particular State laws or regulations, in 
accordance with the procedures and other provisions set forth under 42 
U.S.C. 6297(d)).
    EPCA also requires that, in any final rule for new or amended 
energy conservation standards promulgated after July 1, 2010, DOE is 
required to address standby mode and off mode energy use. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(gg)(3)) Specifically, when DOE adopts a standard for a covered 
product after that date, it must, if justified by the criteria for 
adoption of standards under EPCA (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)), incorporate 
standby mode and off mode energy use into a single standard, or, if 
that is not feasible, adopt a separate standard for such energy use for 
that product. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(3)(A)-(B)) DOE's current test 
procedures in appendix C1 for residential dishwashers address standby 
mode and off mode energy use.

B. Background

1. Current Standards
    In a direct final rule published on May 30, 2012 (2012 Direct Final 
Rule), DOE prescribed the current energy conservation standards for 
residential dishwashers manufactured on or after May 30, 2013. 77 FR 
31918. These standards are set forth in DOE's regulations at 10 CFR 
430.32(f)(3) and are repeated in Table II.1.

    Table II.1--Federal Energy Conservation Standards for Residential
                               Dishwashers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Per-cycle
                                           Annual energy       water
              Product class               use (kWh/year)    consumption
                                                            (gal/cycle)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard................................             307             5.0
Compact.................................             222             3.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. History of Standards Rulemaking for Residential Dishwashers
    EPCA required that residential dishwashers be equipped with an 
option to dry without heat. EPCA further required that DOE conduct two 
cycles of rulemakings to determine if amended standards are justified. 
(42 U.S.C. 6295(g)(1) and (4))
    On May 14, 1991, DOE issued a final rule establishing performance 
standards for residential dishwashers to complete the first required 
rulemaking cycle. 56 FR 22250. Compliance with the new standards, 
codified at 10 CFR 430.32(f), was required on May 14, 1994.
    DOE then conducted a second standards rulemaking for residential 
dishwashers. DOE issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking 
(ANOPR) on November 14, 1994, to consider amending the energy 
conservation standards for residential clothes washers, dishwashers, 
and clothes dryers. 59 FR 56423. Subsequently, DOE published a Notice 
of Availability of the ``Rulemaking Framework for Commercial Clothes 
Washers and Residential Dishwashers, Dehumidifiers, and Cooking 
Products.'' 71 FR 15059 (Mar. 27, 2006). On November 15, 2007, DOE 
published a second ANOPR addressing energy conservation standards for 
these products. 72 FR 64432.
    EPCA was subsequently amended to establish maximum energy and water 
use levels for residential dishwashers manufactured on or after January 
1, 2010. (42 U.S.C. 6295(g)(10)(A)) DOE codified the statutory 
standards for these products in a final rule published March 23, 2009. 
74 FR 12058. EPCA also required DOE to conduct a rulemaking, by no 
later than January 1, 2015, to determine if the standards for 
residential dishwashers should be amended, and if so, to publish 
amended standards. (42 U.S.C. 6295(g)(10)(B))
    The current energy conservation standards for residential 
dishwashers were submitted to DOE by groups representing manufacturers, 
energy and environmental advocates, and consumer groups on September 
25, 2010. This collective set of comments, titled ``Agreement on 
Minimum Federal Efficiency Standards, Smart Appliances, Federal 
Incentives and Related Matters for Specified Appliances'' (the ``Joint 
Petition'' \3\), recommended specific energy conservation standards for 
residential dishwashers that, in the commenters' view, would satisfy 
the EPCA requirements. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)) DOE conducted its rulemaking 
analyses on multiple residential dishwasher efficiency levels, 
including those suggested in the Joint Petition. In the 2012 Direct 
Final Rule, DOE established energy conservation standards for 
residential dishwashers manufactured on or after May 30, 2013, 
consistent with the levels suggested in the Joint Petition and in 
satisfaction of the requirement set forth in 42 U.S.C. 6295(g)(10)(B). 
77 FR 31918 (May 30, 2012).
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    \3\ DOE Docket No. EERE-2011-BT-STD-0060, Comment 1.
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    DOE is conducting the current energy conservation standards 
rulemaking pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6295(m), which requires that within 6 
years of issuing any final rule establishing or amending a standard, 
DOE shall publish either a notice of determination that amended 
standards are not needed or a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) 
including new proposed standards. DOE published a NOPR proposing 
amended standards on December 19, 2014 (2014 NOPR), in which it 
considered additional information not available at the time of the 2012 
Direct Final Rule. 79 FR 76141. In conjunction with the 2014 NOPR, DOE 
posted on its Web site the associated technical support document (TSD). 
The TSD included the results of DOE's analyses, including: (1) The 
market and technology assessment, (2) screening analysis, (3) 
engineering

[[Page 90075]]

analysis, (4) energy and water use determination, (5) markups analysis 
to determine product price, (6) life-cycle cost (LCC) and payback 
period (PBP) analyses, (7) shipments analysis, (8) national energy 
savings (NES) and national impact analysis (NIA), and (9) manufacturer 
impact analysis (MIA). On February 5, 2015, DOE held a public meeting 
to receive comments from interested parties on the proposals in the 
2014 NOPR.
    DOE received a number of comments from interested parties in 
response to the 2014 NOPR. DOE considered these comments, as well as 
comments from the public meeting, in preparing this final rule. The 
commenters are summarized in Table II.2. Relevant comments and DOE's 
responses are provided in the appropriate sections of this final rule.

 Table II.2--Interested Parties Providing Comments on the 2014 NOPR for
                         Residential Dishwashers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Commenter type
               Name                       Acronym               *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appliance Standards Awareness      The Joint Commenters              EA
 Project, Natural Resources
 Defense Council, Alliance to
 Save Energy, American Council
 for an Energy-Efficient Economy,
 Consumers Union, Northwest
 Energy Efficiency Alliance, and
 Northwest Power and Conservation
 Council.
Association of Home Appliance      AHAM................              TA
 Manufacturers.
BSH Home Appliances Corporation..  BSH.................               M
Edison Electric Institute........  EEI.................               U
Energy Solutions.................  Energy Solutions....              RO
GE Appliances and Lighting.......  GE..................               M
Mercatus Center at George Mason    Mercatus Center.....              RO
 University.
Natural Resources Defense Council  NRDC................              EA
Pacific Gas and Electric Company,  CA IOUs.............               U
 Southern California Gas Company,
 San Diego Gas and Electric, and
 Southern California Edison (the
 California Investor-Owned
 Utilities).
People's Republic of China.......  China...............              GA
Samsung Electronics America, Inc.  Samsung.............               M
U.S. Chamber of Commerce,          The Associations....              TA
 American Chemistry Council,
 American Forest & Paper
 Association, American Fuel &
 Petrochemical Manufacturers,
 American Petroleum Institute,
 Brick Industry Association,
 Council of Industrial Boiler
 Owners, National Association of
 Manufacturers, National Mining
 Association, National Oilseed
 Processors Association.
Whirlpool Corporation............  Whirlpool...........               M
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* EA: Efficiency Advocate; GA: Government Agency; M: Manufacturer; RO:
  Research Organization; TA: Trade Association; U: Utility.

III. General Discussion

    DOE developed this final rule after considering comments, data, and 
information from interested parties that represent a variety of 
interests. The following discussion addresses some of the issues raised 
by these commenters. Comments on the methodology for DOE's analysis are 
presented in the relevant sections in section IV of this final rule.

A. Product Classes and Scope of Coverage

    Existing energy conservation standards divide residential 
dishwashers into two product classes based on capacity (i.e., the 
number of place settings and serving pieces that can be loaded in the 
product as specified in American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/
Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) Standard DW-1-2010, 
Household Electric Dishwashers (ANSI/AHAM Standard DW-1-2010)):
     Standard (capacity equal to or greater than eight place 
settings plus six serving pieces); and
     Compact (capacity less than eight place settings plus six 
serving pieces).
    In the 2014 NOPR, DOE proposed to maintain the existing standard 
and compact product classes for residential dishwashers because it 
determined that compact residential dishwashers provide unique utility 
by means of their countertop or drawer configurations. 79 FR 76142, 
76149 (Dec. 19, 2014).
    Mercatus Center disagreed with the separation of residential 
dishwashers into product classes on the basis of capacity, stating that 
such classification was overly broad. (Mercatus Center, No. 11 at p. 5) 
\4\ China noted that the standards proposed in the 2014 NOPR are fixed 
values for the standard product class, and that these values may be too 
strict for larger residential dishwashers within the standard product 
class. China suggested a specific standard for these products. (China, 
No. 25 at p. 3) DOE has not identified any performance-related feature 
affecting consumer utility that would justify differing residential 
dishwasher standards within each of the proposed product classes under 
42 U.S.C. 6295(q), and maintains that the unique utility of countertop 
and drawer configurations warrants differentiation of residential 
dishwashers into standard and compact product classes by capacities. 
The two product classes each cover a range of capacities. However, 
although the existing definition of the standard product class 
specifies a minimum capacity, it does not specify an upper limit on 
capacity. DOE reviewed the certified energy and water consumption 
levels for the highest-capacity dishwashers currently available on the 
market in the United States (i.e., those with capacities of 16 place 
settings), and observed multiple models from different manufacturers 
that are ENERGY STAR-qualified. Therefore, DOE concludes that no 
alternate product class structure is required to adequately consider 
revised energy conservation standards for higher-capacity products, and 
DOE is not amending the product classes for residential dishwashers in 
this final rule.
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    \4\ A notation in the form ``Mercatus Center, No. 11 at p. 5'' 
identifies a written comment: (1) Made by the Mercatus Center at 
George Mason University; (2) recorded in document number 11 that is 
filed in the docket of this energy conservation standards rulemaking 
(Docket No. EERE-2014- BT-STD-0021) and available for review at 
www.regulations.gov; and (3) which appears on page 5 of document 
number 11.

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[[Page 90076]]

B. Test Procedure

    EPCA sets forth generally applicable criteria and procedures for 
DOE's adoption and amendment of test procedures. (42 U.S.C. 6293) 
Manufacturers of covered products must use these test procedures to 
certify to DOE that their product complies with energy conservation 
standards and to quantify the efficiency of their product. DOE's 
current energy conservation standards for residential dishwashers are 
expressed in terms of estimated annual energy use (EAEU), in kWh/year, 
and water consumption, in gal/cycle (see 10 CFR 430.32(f)(3)). The 
current version of the test procedure at 10 CFR 430.23(c) includes 
provisions for determining these values as well as estimated annual 
operating cost (EAOC), based upon testing procedures contained in 
appendix C1.
    In the 2014 NOPR, DOE proposed to delete an obsolete version of the 
residential dishwasher test procedure codified at 10 CFR part 430, 
subpart B, appendix C, and re-designate appendix C1 as appendix C. DOE 
did not receive any objections to the proposed elimination of the 
obsolete version of the test procedure, and is removing the obsolete 
test procedure. However, to avoid potential confusion from renaming the 
current test procedure, DOE is not redesignating appendix C1 as 
appendix C; DOE is maintaining its designation as appendix C1. 
Additionally, DOE is revising the text in both 10 CFR 429.19 and 10 CFR 
430.23 to account for the removal of the obsolete test procedure, and 
revising the introductory note in appendix C1 to clarify that it is the 
applicable test procedure.
    DOE received a number of comments which raised concerns about the 
repeatability and reproducibility of results obtained from appendix C1, 
and on whether the test procedure is representative of actual consumer 
use. DOE will address these concerns in a separate test procedure 
rulemaking and will seek information on these issues in a request for 
information.

C. Technological Feasibility

1. General
    In each energy conservation standards rulemaking, DOE conducts a 
screening analysis based on information gathered on all current 
technology options and prototype designs that could improve the 
efficiency of the products or equipment that are the subject of the 
rulemaking. As the first step in such an analysis, DOE develops a list 
of technology options for consideration in consultation with 
manufacturers, design engineers, and other interested parties. DOE then 
determines which of those means for improving efficiency are 
technologically feasible. DOE considers technologies incorporated in 
commercially available products or in working prototypes to be 
technologically feasible. 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, appendix A, 
section 4(a)(4)(i).
    After DOE has determined that particular technology options are 
technologically feasible, it further evaluates each technology option 
in light of the following additional screening criteria: (1) 
Practicability to manufacture, install, and service; (2) adverse 
impacts on product utility or availability; and (3) adverse impacts on 
health or safety. 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, appendix A, section 
4(a)(4)(ii)-(iv). Additionally, it is DOE policy not to include in its 
analysis any proprietary technology that is a unique pathway to 
achieving a certain efficiency level. Section IV.B of this final rule 
discusses the results of the screening analysis for residential 
dishwashers, particularly the designs DOE considered, those it screened 
out, and those that are the basis for the standards considered in this 
rulemaking. For further details on the screening analysis for this 
rulemaking, see chapter 4 of the final rule TSD.
2. Maximum Technologically Feasible Levels
    When DOE considers amended standards for a type or class of covered 
product, it must determine the maximum improvement in energy efficiency 
or maximum reduction in energy use that is technologically feasible for 
such product. (42 U.S.C. 6295(p)(1)) Accordingly, in the engineering 
analysis, DOE determined the maximum technologically feasible (``max-
tech'') improvements in energy efficiency for residential dishwashers, 
using the design parameters for the most efficient products available 
on the market or in working prototypes. The max-tech levels that DOE 
determined for this rulemaking are described in section IV.C of this 
final rule and in chapter 5 of the final rule TSD.

D. Energy Savings

1. Determination of Savings
    For each trial standard level (TSL), DOE projected energy savings 
from application of the TSL to residential dishwashers purchased in the 
30-year period that begins in the year of compliance with any amended 
standards (2019-2048).\5\ The savings are measured over the entire 
lifetime of residential dishwashers purchased in the 30-year analysis 
period. DOE quantified the energy savings attributable to each TSL as 
the difference in energy consumption between each standards case and 
the no-new-standards case. The no-new-standards case represents a 
projection of energy consumption that reflects how the market for a 
product would likely evolve in the absence of amended energy 
conservation standards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ Each TSL is comprised of specific efficiency levels for each 
product class. The TSLs considered for this final rule are described 
in section IV.A of this final rule. DOE conducted a sensitivity 
analysis that considers impacts for products shipped in a 9-year 
period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE used its NIA spreadsheet model to estimate energy savings from 
potential amended standards for residential dishwashers. The NIA 
spreadsheet model (described in section IV.H of this final rule) 
calculates energy savings in site energy, which is the energy directly 
consumed by products at the locations where they are used. For 
electricity, DOE reports national energy savings in terms of primary 
energy savings, which is the savings in the energy that is used to 
generate and transmit the site electricity. For natural gas, the 
primary energy savings are considered to be equal to the site energy 
savings. DOE also calculates NES in terms of full-fuel-cycle (FFC) 
energy savings. The FFC metric includes the energy consumed in 
extracting, processing, and transporting primary fuels (i.e., coal, 
natural gas, petroleum fuels), and thus presents a more complete 
picture of the impacts of energy conservation standards.\6\ DOE's 
approach is based on the calculation of an FFC multiplier for each of 
the energy types used by covered products or equipment. For more 
information on FFC energy savings, see section IV.H.2 of this final 
rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ The FFC metric is discussed in DOE's statement of policy and 
notice of policy amendment. 76 FR 51282 (Aug. 18, 2011), as amended 
at 77 FR 49701 (Aug. 17, 2012).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Significance of Savings
    To adopt any new or amended standards for a covered product, DOE 
must determine that such action would result in ``significant'' energy 
savings. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(3)(B)) Although the term ``significant'' is 
not defined in the Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit, in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Herrington, 
768 F.2d 1355, 1373 (D.C. Cir. 1985), indicated that Congress intended 
``significant'' energy savings in the context of EPCA to be savings 
that

[[Page 90077]]

are not ``genuinely trivial.'' The energy savings for all of the TSLs 
considered in this rulemaking are nontrivial, and, therefore, DOE 
considers them ``significant'' within the meaning of section 325 of 
EPCA.

E. Economic Justification

1. Specific Criteria
    As noted above, EPCA provides seven factors to be evaluated in 
determining whether a potential energy conservation standard is 
economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(I)-(VII)) The 
following sections discuss how DOE has addressed each of those seven 
factors in this rulemaking.
a. Economic Impact on Manufacturers and Consumers
    In determining the impacts of potential amended standards on 
manufacturers, DOE conducts a MIA, as discussed in section IV.J of this 
final rule. DOE first uses an annual cash-flow approach to determine 
the quantitative impacts. This step includes both a short-term 
assessment--based on the cost and capital requirements during the 
period between when a regulation is issued and when entities must 
comply with the regulation--and a long-term assessment over a 30-year 
period. The industry-wide impacts analyzed include: (1) Industry net 
present value (INPV), which values the industry on the basis of 
expected future cash flows; (2) cash flows by year; (3) changes in 
revenue and income; and (4) other measures of impact, as appropriate. 
Second, DOE analyzes and reports the impacts on different types of 
manufacturers, including impacts on small manufacturers. Third, DOE 
considers the impact of standards on domestic manufacturer employment 
and manufacturing capacity, as well as the potential for standards to 
result in plant closures and loss of capital investment. Finally, DOE 
takes into account cumulative impacts of various DOE regulations and 
other regulatory requirements on manufacturers.
    For individual consumers, measures of economic impact include the 
changes in LCC and PBP associated with new or amended standards. These 
measures are discussed further in the following section. For consumers 
in the aggregate, DOE also calculates the national net present value 
(NPV) of the economic impacts applicable to a particular rulemaking. 
DOE also evaluates the LCC impacts of potential standards on 
identifiable subgroups of consumers that may be affected 
disproportionately by a national standard.
b. Savings in Operating Costs Compared to Increase in Price
    EPCA requires DOE to consider the savings in operating costs 
throughout the estimated average life of the covered product in the 
type (or class) compared to any increase in the price of, or in the 
initial charges for, or maintenance expenses of, the covered product 
that are likely to result from a standard. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(II)) DOE conducts this comparison in its LCC and PBP 
analysis.
    The LCC is the sum of the purchase price of a product (including 
its installation) and the operating expense (including energy, 
maintenance, and repair expenditures) discounted over the lifetime of 
the product. The LCC analysis requires a variety of inputs, such as 
product prices, product energy consumption, energy prices, maintenance 
and repair costs, product lifetime, and discount rates appropriate for 
consumers. To account for uncertainty and variability in specific 
inputs, such as product lifetime and discount rate, DOE uses a 
distribution of values, with probabilities attached to each value.
    The PBP is the estimated amount of time (in years) it takes 
consumers to recover the increased purchase cost (including 
installation) of a more-efficient product through lower operating 
costs. DOE calculates the PBP by dividing the change in purchase cost 
due to a more-stringent standard by the change in annual operating cost 
for the year that standards are assumed to take effect.
    For its LCC and PBP analysis, DOE assumes that consumers will 
purchase the covered products in the first year of compliance with 
amended standards. The LCC savings for the considered efficiency levels 
are calculated relative to the case that reflects projected market 
trends in the absence of amended standards. DOE's LCC and PBP analysis 
is discussed in further detail in section IV.F of this final rule.
c. Energy Savings
    Although significant conservation of energy is a separate statutory 
requirement for amending an energy conservation standard, EPCA requires 
DOE, in determining the economic justification of a standard, to 
consider the total projected energy savings that are expected to result 
directly from the standard. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(III)) As 
discussed in section III.D of this final rule, DOE uses the NIA 
spreadsheet models to project national energy savings.
d. Lessening of Utility or Performance of Products
    In establishing product classes and in evaluating design options 
and the impact of potential standard levels, DOE evaluates potential 
standards that would not lessen the utility or performance of the 
considered products. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(IV)) As described in 
the engineering analysis (see section IV.C of this final rule), DOE 
considered efficiency levels based on the range of products currently 
available on the market, and analyzed design options based on those 
observed in such products. Because DOE is not amending the existing 
standards for residential dishwashers, this rulemaking will not reduce 
the utility or performance of the products under consideration.
e. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition
    EPCA directs DOE to consider the impact of any lessening of 
competition, as determined in writing by the Attorney General, that is 
likely to result from a standard. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(V)) It 
also directs the Attorney General to determine the impact, if any, of 
any lessening of competition likely to result from a standard and to 
transmit such determination to the Secretary within 60 days of the 
publication of a proposed rule, together with an analysis of the nature 
and extent of the impact. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(ii)) Because DOE is 
not amending energy conservation standards for residential dishwashers, 
no consulatation with the Department of Justice pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 
6295(o)(2)(B)(ii) is necessary.
f. Need for National Energy Conservation
    DOE also considers the need for national energy conservation in 
determining whether a new or amended standard is economically 
justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(VI)) The energy savings from any 
amended standards are likely to provide improvements to the security 
and reliability of the nation's energy system. Reductions in the demand 
for electricity also may result in reduced costs for maintaining the 
reliability of the Nation's electricity system. DOE conducts a utility 
impact analysis to estimate how standards may affect the Nation's 
needed power generation capacity, as discussed in section IV.M of this 
final rule.
    Amended standards also are likely to result in environmental 
benefits in the form of reduced emissions of air pollutants and 
greenhouse gases associated with energy production and

[[Page 90078]]

use. DOE conducts an emissions analysis to estimate how potential 
standards may affect these emissions, as discussed in section IV.K of 
this final rule; the emissions impacts are reported in section IV.K of 
this final rule. DOE also estimates the economic value of emissions 
reductions resulting from the considered TSLs, as discussed in section 
IV.L of this final rule.
g. Other Factors
    In determining whether an energy conservation standard is 
economically justified, DOE may consider any other factors that the 
Secretary deems to be relevant. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(VII)) To 
the extent interested parties submit any relevant information regarding 
economic justification that does not fit into the other categories 
described above, DOE could consider such information under ``other 
factors.'' No other factors were deemed to be relevant for this final 
rule.
2. Rebuttable Presumption
    As set forth in 42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(iii), EPCA creates a 
rebuttable presumption that an energy conservation standard is 
economically justified if the additional cost to the consumer of a 
product that meets the standard is less than three times the value of 
the first year's energy savings resulting from the standard, as 
calculated under the applicable DOE test procedure. DOE's LCC and PBP 
analyses generate values used to calculate the effect potential amended 
energy conservation standards would have on the PBP for consumers. 
These analyses include, but are not limited to, the 3-year PBP 
contemplated under the rebuttable-presumption test. In addition, DOE 
routinely conducts an economic analysis that considers the full range 
of impacts to consumers, manufacturers, the Nation, and the 
environment, as required under 42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i). The results 
of this analysis serve as the basis for DOE's evaluation of the 
economic justification for a potential standard level (thereby 
supporting or rebutting the results of any preliminary determination of 
economic justification). The rebuttable presumption payback calculation 
is discussed in section IV.F of this final rule.

F. Other Issues

    DOE received a number of general comments regarding the analysis 
process and standards in general, and specific comments related to 
DOE's process guidance at 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, Appendix A. 
Samsung commented in support of more stringent standards for 
residential dishwashers, which it stated would encourage innovation and 
would provide large benefits to U.S. consumers by way of significant 
energy and water savings. (Samsung, No. 19 at p. 2) The CA IOUs and 
Joint Commenters also supported the proposed standards. (CA IOUs, No. 
23 at p. 1; Joint Commenters No. 22 at p. 1)
    EEI stated that in this rulemaking, DOE elected to depart from the 
Process Improvement Rule by eliminating the Framework stage and the 
Preliminary Analysis. EEI stated that the effect of this change is to 
provide interested parties with only one opportunity to impact the 
outcome of the proposed rule, which conflicts with the Process 
Improvement Rule provisions. (EEI, No. 20 at p. 3)
    More specifically, commenters noted that DOE guidance at 10 CFR 
part 430, subpart C, appendix A states that DOE will publish an ANOPR 
prior to issuance of a proposed standards rule. In EISA 2007, Congress 
eliminated the requirement for DOE to publish an ANOPR for rulemakings 
to establish or amend an energy conservation standards. In many cases, 
DOE publishes a framework document and preliminary analysis prior to 
publishing a proposed standards. For this rulemaking, however, DOE 
relied primarily on data and analysis from the recent 2012 Direct Final 
Rule rather than a preliminary analysis in developing the 2014 NOPR. 
Commenters also expressed concerns regarding three specific objectives 
outlined in 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, appendix A, section 1: (a), 
(d), and (f). Objective (a) is to provide for early input from 
stakeholders in the rulemaking process. In addition to the 
opportunities for public input on the 2012 rulemaking, DOE engaged 
stakeholders in a public meeting after publishing the 2014 NOPR, and 
conducted extensive manufacturer interviews following the 2014 NOPR. 
Objective (d) is to eliminate problematic design options early in the 
process. In the 2014 NOPR, DOE evaluated all technology options against 
the criteria outlined in the screening analysis (see section IV.B of 
this final rule), and then discussed conclusions regarding design 
options in subsequent manufacturer interviews. Objective (f) is to 
conduct thorough analysis of impacts. In the 2014 NOPR, DOE conducted 
all relevant impact analyses and requested any relevant information 
from stakeholders. DOE received feedback in response to these analyses, 
and as discussed in section IV of this final rule, has incorporated 
stakeholder feedback into the analyses for this final rule. In 
developing the analysis for this final rule, DOE's process, which 
included extensive stakeholder input, was consistent with the 
objectives outlined in 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, appendix A, section 
1.
    Mercatus Center commented in response to the 2014 NOPR that the 
treatment of market barriers is inconsistent with evidence that 
consumers are informed about efficiency issues and that this 
information allows them to make economically efficient choices of 
residential dishwashers. (Mercatus Center, No. 11 at pp. 3-5)
    This comment appears to be referring to section VI.A of the 2014 
NOPR, in which DOE, responding to requirements of Executive Order 
12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' briefly describes the 
problems that the proposed standards address. One of the problems 
mentioned is a lack of consumer information and/or information 
processing capability about energy efficiency opportunities in the 
residential dishwasher market. However, it is difficult to determine 
the significance of this problem. The commenter presents data showing 
the popularity of ENERGY STAR-certified residential dishwashers as 
evidence that consumers are informed about efficiency issues. DOE is 
aware that there is a segment of the consumer market that responds to 
the information implicit in the ENERGY STAR certification. This was 
confirmed in a recent paper from the National Bureau of Economic 
Research that examined how consumers respond to ENERGY STAR 
certification in the U.S. refrigerator market,\7\ but the study also 
found that ``a non-negligible fraction of consumers also appears to 
neither value the certification nor consider electricity costs in their 
purchase decisions.'' While the reasons for this are not entirely 
clear, difficulties in processing information in purchase decision-
making may be a factor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ Houde, Sebastien. 2014. How Consumers Respond to 
Environmental Certification and the Value of Energy Information. 
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 20019. http://www.nber.org/papers/w20019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Mercatus Center stated that the proposed rule may yield economic 
inefficiencies as it treats dissimilar consumers as similar. It stated 
that manufacturers respond to the heterogeneity of consumers by 
offering a wide variety of products, and forcing all residential 
dishwashers to include energy-saving technology can generate an excess 
of costs over benefits (e.g., for buyers who only use their dishwashers

[[Page 90079]]

a few times a month). (Mercatus Center, No. 11 at p. 9)
    DOE acknowledges that for some consumers the cost of purchasing a 
residential dishwasher that meets the proposed standards exceeds the 
operating cost savings from a more efficient dishwasher. In issuing 
this final rule, DOE considered this burden in the context of the full 
range of benefits and burdens associated with different standard levels 
and determined not to issue amended standards for residential 
dishwashers.

IV. Methodology and Revisions to the Analyses Employed in the 2014 
Proposed Rule

    This section addresses the analyses DOE has performed for this 
rulemaking with regard to residential dishwashers. Separate subsections 
address each component of DOE's analyses.
    DOE used several analytical tools to estimate the impact of the 
potential standards levels considered in this document. The first tool 
is a spreadsheet that calculates the LCC savings and PBP of potential 
amended or new energy conservation standards. The NIA uses a second 
spreadsheet set that provides shipments projections and calculates NES 
and NPV of total consumer costs and savings expected to result from 
potential energy conservation standards. DOE uses the third spreadsheet 
tool, the Government Regulatory Impact Model (GRIM), to assess 
manufacturer impacts of potential standards. These three spreadsheet 
tools are available on the DOE Web site for this rulemaking: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx?ruleid=106. Additionally, DOE used output from the 
latest version of the Energy Information Administration's (EIA's) 
Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) for the emissions and utility impact 
analyses.

A. Market and Technology Assessment

    DOE develops information in the market and technology assessment 
that provides an overall picture of the market for the products 
concerned, including the purpose of the products, the industry 
structure, manufacturers, market characteristics, and technologies used 
in the products. This activity includes both quantitative and 
qualitative assessments, based primarily on publicly-available 
information. The subjects addressed in the market and technology 
assessment for this rulemaking include: (1) A determination of the 
scope of the rulemaking and product classes, (2) manufacturers and 
industry structure, (3) existing efficiency programs, (4) shipments 
information, (5) market and industry trends, and (6) technologies or 
design options that could improve the energy efficiency of residential 
dishwashers. See chapter 3 of the final rule TSD for further discussion 
of the market and technology assessment.
    In the 2014 NOPR market analysis and technology assessment, DOE 
identified 16 technology options that would be expected to improve the 
efficiency of residential dishwashers, as measured by the DOE test 
procedure, shown in Table IV.1. 79 FR 76142, 76151 (Dec. 19, 2014).

                Table IV.1--2014 NOPR Technology Options
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Condensation drying.
2. Control strategies.
3. Fan/jet drying.
4. Flow-through heating.
5. Improved fill control.
6. Improved food filter.
7. Improved motor efficiency.
8. Improved spray-arm geometry.
9. Increased insulation.
10. Low-standby-loss electronic controls.
11. Microprocessor controls and fuzzy logic, including adaptive or soil-
 sensing controls.
12. Modified sump geometry, with and without dual pumps.
13. Reduced inlet-water temperature.
14. Supercritical carbon dioxide washing.
15. Ultrasonic washing.
16. Variable washing pressures and flow rates.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the 2014 NOPR, DOE requested feedback from manufacturers on its 
NOPR analyses. After publishing the 2014 NOPR, DOE also conducted 
manufacturer interviews to discuss the possible design pathways to 
improve dishwasher efficiencies. From these conversations and 
additional research, DOE identified desiccant drying as an additional 
technology option for improving dishwasher efficiency. Along with 
desiccant drying, all of the technology options identified in the 2014 
NOPR were considered in this final rule analysis.

B. Screening Analysis

    DOE uses the following four screening criteria to determine which 
technology options are suitable for further consideration in an energy 
conservation standards rulemaking:
    (1) Technological feasibility. Technologies that are not 
incorporated in commercial products or in working prototypes will not 
be considered further.
    (2) Practicability to manufacture, install, and service. If it is 
determined that mass production and reliable installation and servicing 
of a technology in commercial products could not be achieved on the 
scale necessary to serve the relevant market at the time of the 
projected compliance date of the standard, then that technology will 
not be considered further.
    (3) Impacts on product utility or product availability. If it is 
determined that a technology would have significant adverse impact on 
the utility of the product to significant subgroups of consumers or 
would result in the unavailability of any covered product type with 
performance characteristics (including reliability), features, sizes, 
capacities, and volumes that are substantially the same as products 
generally available in the United States at the time, it will not be 
considered further.
    (4) Adverse impacts on health or safety. If it is determined that a 
technology would have significant adverse impacts on health or safety, 
it will not be considered further. 10 CFR part 430, subpart C, appendix 
A, 4(a)(4) and 5(b).
    In sum, if DOE determines that a technology, or a combination of 
technologies, fails to meet one or more of the above four criteria, it 
will be excluded from further consideration in the engineering 
analysis. The reasons for eliminating any technology are discussed 
below.
    The subsequent sections include comments from interested parties 
pertinent to the screening criteria, DOE's evaluation of each 
technology option against the screening analysis criteria, and whether 
DOE determined that a technology option should be excluded (``screened 
out'') based on the screening criteria.
1. Screened-Out Technologies
    In the 2014 NOPR screening analysis, DOE removed three technology 
options from further consideration: Reduced inlet-water temperature, 
supercritical carbon dioxide washing, and ultrasonic washing. 79 FR 
76142, 76152 (Dec. 19, 2014).
    In response to the 2014 NOPR, AHAM commented that DOE did not seek 
updated information from manufacturers on technology options, resulting 
in analyzing technology options that should have been removed in the 
screening analysis. (AHAM, No. 21 at p. 6)
    DOE received no additional comments, either in response to the 2014 
NOPR or in additional manufacturer interviews, regarding technology 
options identified in the 2014 NOPR that would not meet the screening 
criteria. However, DOE is screening out an additional design

[[Page 90080]]

option for the final rule analysis, described below.
Desiccant Drying
    Desiccant drying relies on a material, such as zeolite, to adsorb 
moisture to aid in the drying process and reduce drying energy 
consumption. Certain European dishwashers currently incorporate this 
technology option; however, DOE is unaware of any dishwashers available 
in the United States that use desiccant drying. DOE has screened out 
desiccant drying from further consideration because it would not be 
practicable to manufacture on the scale necessary for the residential 
dishwasher market.
2. Remaining Technologies
    Through a review of each technology, DOE concludes that all of the 
other identified technologies listed in section IV.A of this final rule 
met all four screening criteria to be examined further as design 
options in DOE's final rule analysis. In summary, DOE retained the 
following technology options as shown in Table IV.2:

           Table IV.2--Remaining Final Rule Technology Options
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Condensation drying.
2. Control strategies.
3. Fan/jet drying.
4. Flow-through heating.
5. Improved fill control.
6. Improved food filter.
7. Improved motor efficiency.
8. Improved spray-arm geometry.
9. Increased insulation.
10. Low-standby-loss electronic controls.
11. Microprocessor controls and fuzzy logic, including adaptive or soil-
 sensing controls.
12. Modified sump geometry, with and without dual pumps
13. Variable washing pressures and flow rates.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE determined that these technology options are technologically 
feasible because they are being used or have previously been used in 
commercially-available products or working prototypes. DOE also finds 
that all of the remaining technology options meet the other screening 
criteria (i.e., practicable to manufacture, install, and service and do 
not result in adverse impacts on consumer utility, product 
availability, health, or safety). For additional details, see chapter 4 
of the final rule TSD.

C. Engineering Analysis

    In the engineering analysis, DOE establishes the relationship 
between the manufacturer production cost (MPC) and improved residential 
dishwasher efficiency. This relationship serves as the basis for cost-
benefit calculations for individual consumers, manufacturers, and the 
Nation. DOE typically structures the engineering analysis using one of 
three approaches: (1) Design option, (2) efficiency level, or (3) 
reverse engineering (or cost assessment). The design-option approach 
involves adding the estimated cost and associated efficiency of various 
efficiency-improving design changes to the baseline product to model 
different levels of efficiency. The efficiency-level approach uses 
estimates of costs and efficiencies of products available on the market 
at distinct efficiency levels to develop the cost-efficiency 
relationship. The reverse-engineering approach involves testing 
products for efficiency and determining cost from a detailed bill of 
materials (BOM) derived from reverse engineering representative 
products. The efficiency ranges from that of the least-efficient 
residential dishwasher sold today (i.e. the baseline) to the maximum 
technologically feasible efficiency level. At each efficiency level 
examined, DOE determines the MPC; this relationship is referred to as a 
cost-efficiency curve. In the 2014 NOPR, DOE used a hybrid approach of 
the three methods to develop the relationship between MPC and 
residential dishwasher efficiency because it is difficult to assign a 
specific energy or water savings to a particular design option. 79 FR 
76142, 76152 (Dec. 19, 2014).
1. Efficiency Levels
    In the 2014 NOPR, DOE analyzed the efficiency levels shown in Table 
IV.3 and Table IV.4. 79 FR 76142, 76153-76154 (Dec. 19, 2014).

     Table IV.3--2014 NOPR Efficiency Levels--Standard Product Class
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Per-cycle
                                           Annual energy       water
            Efficiency level              use (kWh/year)    consumption
                                                            (gal/cycle)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0--Baseline.............................             307            5.00
1.......................................             295            4.25
2.......................................             280            3.50
3.......................................             234            3.10
4--Max-Tech.............................             180            2.22
------------------------------------------------------------------------


     Table IV.4--2014 NOPR Efficiency Levels--Compact Product Class
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Per-cycle
                                           Annual energy       water
            Efficiency level              use (kWh/year)    consumption
                                                            (gal/cycle)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0--Baseline.............................             222            3.50
1.......................................             203            3.10
2--Max-Tech.............................             141            2.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    China suggested that DOE use international units of measure, rather 
than gallons, for the convenience of World Trade Organization (WTO) 
member states. (China, No. 25 at p. 3) DOE proposes to maintain water 
consumption specifications for each efficiency level in gallons per 
cycle to maintain consistency with current product ratings and consumer 
familiarity. The conversion from gallons to an international unit, such 
as liters, is a simple calculation and would not represent a 
significant burden to WTO member states.

[[Page 90081]]

a. Data Sources
    DOE used information in its Compliance Certification Database \8\ 
as one data source for developing the efficiency levels in the 2014 
NOPR. 79 FR 76142, 76153-76154 (Dec. 19, 2014). As described in chapter 
5 of the NOPR TSD, DOE also relied on test data gathered using the 
ENERGY STAR Test Method for Determining Residential Dishwasher Cleaning 
Performance (ENERGY STAR Cleaning Performance Test Method) to determine 
Efficiency Level 3 for standard residential dishwashers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ DOE's Compliance Certification Database is accessible at 
http://www.regulations.doe.gov/certification-data/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    AHAM observed that the NOPR analysis incorporated data accessed 
from DOE's Compliance Certification Database as of May 22, 2014, which 
included some outdated models that had since been removed from the 
market. (AHAM, No. 21 at p. 6) Energy Solutions asked DOE to review 
data more recent than May 2014 to see where newer models are rated. 
(Energy Solutions, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 10 at p. 39) \9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ A notation in the form ``Energy Solutions, Public Meeting 
Transcript, No. 10 at p. 39'' identifies an oral comment that DOE 
received during the February 5, 2015, residential dishwasher energy 
conservation standards NOPR public meeting. Oral comments were 
recorded in the public meeting transcript and are available in the 
residential dishwasher energy conservation standards rulemaking 
docket (Docket No. EERE-2014-BT-STD-0021). This particular notation 
refers to a comment: (1) Made by Energy Solutions during the public 
meeting; (2) recorded in document number 10, which is the public 
meeting transcript that is filed in the docket of this energy 
conservation standards rulemaking; and (3) which appears on page 39 
of document number 10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In developing its rulemaking proposals, DOE strives to use the most 
recent data available at the time it conducts its analyses. DOE 
therefore has updated the efficiency levels analyzed in this final rule 
to reflect current product availability, specifically for the max-tech 
efficiency level for both product classes. DOE notes that the 
certification for the model at the max-tech level for the standard 
product class in the 2014 NOPR analysis has since been withdrawn. At 
the time of the final rule analysis, DOE found that the maximum 
available efficiency of products listed in the Compliance Certification 
Database and available on the market with a typical dishwasher 
configuration (i.e., built-in and typical product width) for the 
standard product class was a product with rated annual energy use of 
225 kWh/year and water consumption of 2.4 gal/cycle. In addition, the 
maximum available efficiency of residential dishwashers listed in the 
compact product class was 130 kWh/year and 1.7 gal/cycle. For 
residential dishwashers, DOE considers the maximum available efficiency 
as the max-tech efficiency because DOE has observed all design options 
that it has identified for improving dishwasher efficiency in units 
currently on the market. DOE also observed that fewer residential 
dishwashers in the standard product class are available on the market 
at the energy and water consumption values for Efficiency Level 3 as 
defined in the 2014 NOPR than existed at the time the 2014 NOPR was 
issued. Accordingly, DOE has revised the energy and water consumption 
values that define Efficiency Level 3 for the standard product class, 
as described in greater detail in section IV.C.1 of this final rule.
    The CA IOUs were concerned that in the 2014 NOPR, DOE presented 
data from testing conducted in support of the 2012 Direct Final Rule. 
They commented that tested models should be ones that are 
representative of models meeting the current standard and reasonably 
representative of the market. (CA IOUs, No. 23 at p. 2) AHAM noted that 
DOE conducted testing and teardowns on a limited sample of models, some 
of which were outdated or had been removed from the market. (AHAM, No. 
21 at p. 6)
    All test data presented in the 2014 NOPR TSD were from testing 
conducted either in support of developing the ENERGY STAR Cleaning 
Performance Test Method or specifically for the 2014 NOPR analysis, and 
were included in the analyses for the 2014 NOPR and this final rule 
analysis only if the unit under test met the current dishwasher energy 
conservation standards. DOE did not conduct additional testing for the 
final rule analysis, but, as described earlier in this section, it has 
revised the efficiency levels used in the analysis to better reflect 
the current residential dishwasher market. Additionally, in 
manufacturer interviews conducted after publishing the 2014 NOPR, DOE 
confirmed that the design options incorporated in its test units are 
representative of the design options included in products currently on 
the market and of the design options manufacturers would likely use to 
achieve higher efficiencies. Accordingly, DOE determined that its test 
data are representative of the current dishwasher market.
b. Consumer Utility
    As described in chapter 5 of the NOPR TSD, DOE identified 
Efficiency Level 3 for the standard product class in the 2014 NOPR as 
the most efficient level that would maintain product cleaning 
performance. DOE based this determination on cleaning performance data 
from the ENERGY STAR Cleaning Performance Test Method, which showed 
that cleaning performance begins to drop off at energy consumptions and 
water consumptions below Efficiency Level 3. DOE received multiple 
comments from interested parties on this issue.
    The Joint Commenters emphasized that dishwasher performance should 
be maintained with new standard levels for consumers to achieve actual 
energy and water savings, because otherwise consumers may select cycles 
other than the normal cycle. The Joint Commenters urged DOE to evaluate 
any additional information beyond cleaning performance, including 
drying performance and cycle time, provided by manufacturers to ensure 
that performance can be maintained. (Joint Commenters, No. 22 at p. 2)
    AHAM objected to the use of the ENERGY STAR Cleaning Performance 
Test Method to evaluate performance at the proposed efficiency levels 
due to AHAM's evaluation of the repeatability and reproducibility of 
that test procedure. (AHAM, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 10 at p. 20; 
AHAM, No. 21 at p. 13) According to AHAM, its round robin testing 
conducted during the development of the ENERGY STAR Cleaning 
Performance Test Method demonstrated that the test procedure has a 
maximum standard deviation of 6.76 when using AHAM scoring, albeit on 
models that did not meet the efficiency levels proposed in the 2014 
NOPR. AHAM also stated that it believes that the standard deviation 
will likely increase as the stringency of the standard levels 
increases. Furthermore, AHAM and GE commented that DOE's proposed 
standard level could just as likely negatively impact performance as be 
neutral, specifically noting that Efficiency Level 3 performance may 
overlap with Efficiency Level 4 performance. (AHAM, No. 21 at pp. 9-10; 
GE, No. 26 at pp. 3-4) BSH noted its internal testing found that the 
ENERGY STAR Cleaning Performance Test Method is repeatable within a 
single laboratory, but that variability is introduced with tests at 
different test facilities. (BSH, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 10 at 
pp. 47-48)
    AHAM and GE also commented that DOE did not address dishwasher 
attributes other than cleaning (e.g., cycle time, drying performance, 
and noise levels) which potentially impact dishwasher performance and 
utility. (AHAM, No. 21 at pp. 6-7; GE, No. 26 at pp. 2-3) AHAM 
expressed concern

[[Page 90082]]

that DOE had made incorrect assumptions about the mass consumer appeal 
of the few products on the market (or once on the market) that meet 
Efficiency Level 3, and commented that energy and water savings for 
products currently available are more likely to come at the expense of 
performance and features than in the past. AHAM noted the small number 
of models available that meet the proposed levels as compared to its 
estimates of approximately 667 standard models and 54 compact models on 
the market at the time of its comment. (AHAM, No. 21 at pp. 6-7, 10)
    AHAM stated that water heating is the biggest contributor to 
dishwasher energy use regardless of the manufacturer, and that 
manufacturers may be forced to reduce water heating in an effort to 
comply with the proposed standards, putting performance at risk. (AHAM, 
No. 21 at p. 8) GE commented that DOE's data from the 2014 NOPR show 
that performance may begin to degrade at the ENERGY STAR levels in 
effect at the time of the 2014 NOPR analysis (295 kWh/year and 4.25 
gal/cycle). (GE, No. 26 at p. 10)
    AHAM and BSH commented that if a portion of a dishwasher cycle 
changes to save energy, some other aspect must also change to 
compensate, for example, increasing cycle times. (AHAM, No. 21 at pp. 
7-8; BSH, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 10 at pp. 53-55) AHAM stated 
that data it collected from manufacturers comprising over 90 percent of 
the market show that as energy use decreases, cycle time (including 
drying time) increases. According to AHAM, these data indicate that the 
shipment-weighted average cycle time increases by 12 percent for 
products meeting Efficiency Level 2 compared to products at the 
baseline. AHAM further stated that the shipment-weighted average cycle 
time increases by 37 percent for products meeting Efficiency Level 3 
compared to products at the baseline (based on the few models meeting 
Efficiency Level 3 in the AHAM data set). AHAM commented that this 
increase in cycle time is likely to be unacceptable to consumers. 
Finally, AHAM noted that DOE had not shown why it determined that cycle 
times would be acceptable at Efficiency Level 3 but not at Efficiency 
Level 4. (AHAM, No. 21 at pp. 7-8) GE stated that standards at 
Efficiency Level 3 would drive cycle time to greater than 3 hours. 
According to GE, a survey of 11,000 dishwasher owners showed that cycle 
time is one of the four major sources of dissatisfaction with these 
products, the others being odor, rinsing performance, and drying 
performance. (GE, No. 26 at pp. 3-4)
    AHAM stated that in addition to using all or most of the technology 
options identified in the 2014 NOPR, manufacturers will be required to 
apply significant innovation at increased cost to meet the proposed 
standards. AHAM commented that to offset that cost, manufacturers will 
be forced to make trade-offs, potentially causing loss of product 
utility. (AHAM, No. 21 at pp. 10-11)
    GE believes there would be a compression of the market if standards 
were adopted at Efficiency Level 3, forcing manufacturers to add cost 
to increase efficiency rather than increase consumer utility. GE stated 
as an example that a manufacturer may not be able to invest in sound 
performance or enhanced rack designs in value-priced models, resulting 
in reduced consumer utility at lower price points. (GE, No. 26 at p. 4)
    Because of the extensive response from interested parties on 
potential utility concerns at the standard levels proposed in the 2014 
NOPR for the standard product class, and at the request of multiple 
interested parties, DOE conducted additional manufacturer interviews 
after the 2014 NOPR to further assess the potential utility impacts at 
varying dishwasher efficiencies.
    Information gathered during the manufacturer interviews suggests 
that some aspect of dishwasher performance would be compromised in 
order to maintain cleaning performance at the Efficiency Level 3 
considered in the 2014 NOPR. As mentioned in the comments from 
interested parties, manufacturers generally identified drying 
performance and cycle times as the parameters most likely to be 
affected at that efficiency level.
    During manufacturer interviews, DOE also requested information on 
how much the energy or water consumption would need to increase from 
the previous Efficiency Level 3 to maintain acceptable performance. 
Manufacturers generally indicated that by using all available design 
options to improve efficiency, they would likely be able to maintain 
performance with a maximum energy consumption between 250 and 260 kWh/
year. With the additional energy consumption, manufacturers suggested 
that dishwasher cycles would be able to maintain sufficiently high wash 
and rinse temperatures to result in good cleaning and drying 
performance. Based on this feedback, DOE adjusted the energy 
consumption for Efficiency Level 3 in this final rule analysis to 255 
kWh/year.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ As discussed later in this section, manufacturers provided 
different views on consumer utility impacts at this efficiency 
level. AHAM and a group of its members provided public feedback 
indicating performance concerns at this level, which differed from 
the information provided to DOE in confidential manufacturer 
interviews.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Manufacturers also indicated during interviews that the maximum 
energy consumption limit proposed in the 2014 NOPR was the primary 
concern at Efficiency Level 3 rather than the water consumption. They 
stated that they would likely be able to maintain performance with the 
same water consumption proposed in the 2014 NOPR if it is combined with 
a higher energy use value. From this feedback, DOE maintained water 
consumption at 3.1 gal/cycle for Efficiency Level 3.
    One major concern noted in the comments from interested parties was 
the lack of products available at the proposed standards at Efficiency 
Level 3. In addition to the manufacturer feedback during interviews, 
DOE notes that its Compliance Certification Database includes 97 models 
that would meet the revised Efficiency Level 3 out of a total of 789 
standard dishwashers.\11\ Additionally, 137 certified models meet the 
energy consumption at revised Efficiency Level 3 and 305 models meet 
the water consumption at revised Efficiency Level 3. For products that 
would currently meet only one of the two metrics for Efficiency Level 
3, the rated value for the other metric is, on average, 261 kWh/year 
for models not meeting the energy consumption and 3.3 gal/cycle for 
products not meeting the water consumption. This suggests that these 
products would likely be able to meet Efficiency Level 3 with only 
minor changes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ Based on products listed as of August 10, 2016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Following the manufacturer interviews, AHAM and a group of its 
members gathered additional data regarding cleaning performance and 
presented the information to DOE in a meeting on July 8, 2015.\12\ The 
AHAM materials focused on two sets of manufacturer testing: One set 
consisting of a modified DOE sensor heavy soil load tested in 
dishwashers reprogrammed to match three energy and water use levels 
(307 kWh/year and 4.1 gal/cycle, 255 kWh/year and 3.1 gal/cycle, and 
234 kWh/year and 3.1 gal/cycle); and one set consisting of two

[[Page 90083]]

dishwashers that were each loaded with ten place settings soiled with a 
modified ANSI/AHAM Standard DW-1-2010 soil load, with each dishwasher 
programmed to match two energy and water use levels (307 kWh/year and 
5.0 gal/cycle and 234 kWh/year and 3.1 gal/cycle). AHAM presented 
results from these tests by exhibiting certain load items as they came 
out of a test unit at the end of the cycle. AHAM also presented 
compiled consumer feedback on the test load results in which the 
consumers generally indicated that the test load items from the units 
set to 307 kWh/year were adequately cleaned (although some had concerns 
with performance), while the items coming from the units set to 255 
kWh/year or 234 kWh/year would be unacceptable for use. Based on these 
data, AHAM commented that any standards at these lower energy 
consumption and water consumption levels would result in worse 
performance than products currently on the market achieve. Accordingly, 
AHAM stated that amended dishwasher standards should not be more 
stringent than the upcoming ENERGY STAR level (270 kWh/year and 3.5 
gal/cycle). (AHAM, No. 27 at pp. 1-13)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ A summary of the meeting and the materials presented at 
this meeting are available at http://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/08/f25/AHAM%20Comments_Ex%20Parte%20Memo_July%208%2C%202015_Dishwasher%20Standards_FINAL%20%2800039961%29.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE appreciates the additional information on cleaning performance 
gathered by AHAM and its members. DOE acknowledges that the data may 
demonstrate utility impacts at Efficiency Level 3 under the test 
methods utilized by AHAM. In the paragraphs that follow, however, DOE 
discusses its concerns with AHAM's test methods:
    First, DOE notes that the soil loads used for both sets of testing, 
and in particular the tests conducted with ten soiled place settings, 
were heavier than the soils typical of 95 percent of consumer loads. 
The heaviest soil load in appendix C1 requires only 4 soiled place 
settings, and represents the 5 percent of consumer cycles run with the 
heaviest soil loads. The majority of consumer use corresponds to the 
light soil load in appendix C1 (62 percent of cycles), which requires 
only one soiled place setting with half the soil amount specified in 
ANSI/AHAM Standard DW-1-2010.
    Second, both sets of AHAM tests included additional soils that are 
more difficult to remove than those specified in appendix C1. For the 
first set of tests, animal and vegetable fats were applied, and these 
were the soils that appeared upon visual inspection to remain after the 
test cycles. For the second set of tests, a significant amount of 
adhered soil was added to a serving bowl, and cooked-on milk was added 
to one glass. The soil loads used in appendix C1 and ANSI/AHAM Standard 
DW-1-2010 were developed to be representative of typical consumer use, 
so these substitutions resulted in a soiled load that was more 
difficult to clean than the typical load.
    Third, the controls on the four test units were adjusted to obtain 
certain energy and water responses for each test cycle rather than 
allowing a soil sensor to determine the appropriate energy and water 
consumption for the encountered soil load. As described in chapter 5 of 
the final rule TSD, DOE expects that manufacturers would incorporate 
soil sensors, among other design options, to achieve Efficiency Level 
3. In appendix C1, the light and medium soil loads represent 95 percent 
of overall dishwasher use. Accordingly, the cycle responses to these 
soil loads effectively determine the overall energy and water use for a 
unit, allowing a dishwasher to meet Efficiency Level 3 even if it were 
to use a relatively high level of energy and water under heavy soil 
conditions. DOE expects that a load with ten soiled place settings 
would always trigger a heavier cycle response in a soil-sensing 
dishwasher that is designed specifically to meet Efficiency Level 3. As 
a result, DOE concludes that forcing dishwashers to consume less energy 
and water under the heaviest soil loading conditions than they would 
likely be designed for would not reflect how actual units in the field 
would operate for consumers.
    In summary, DOE concludes that the results of AHAM's testing do not 
demonstrate conclusively that residential dishwashers would have 
unacceptable cleaning performance at the proposed Efficiency Level 3. 
DOE expects that typical consumer use conditions would be less severe 
than those used in AHAM's testing, and that actual units in the field 
would adjust their cycle responses to heavier-than-typical soil loads 
to obtain better cleaning performance. Further, the information 
gathered during confidential manufacturer interviews and the 97 
certified models that would meet Efficiency Level 3 indicate that 
performance could be maintained at that efficiency level.
c. Final Rule Efficiency Levels
    Based on the information gathered in manufacturer interviews and 
the Certification Compliance Database, DOE revised the energy 
consumption associated with Efficiency Level 3 for standard residential 
dishwashers to 255 kWh/year in this final rule analysis. As described 
in section IV.C.1.a. of this final rule, DOE also revised the max-tech 
Efficiency Level 4 for both standard and compact residential 
dishwashers.
    DOE did not receive any comments in response to the Efficiency 
Level 2 analyzed for standard residential dishwashers in the 2014 NOPR; 
however, DOE revised the energy consumption at Efficiency Level 2 to 
270 kWh/year for this final rule. The energy use and water consumption 
corresponding to Efficiency Level 2 in the 2014 NOPR were originally 
selected for analysis in the 2012 Direct Final Rule based on the ENERGY 
STAR Draft 2 Version 5.0 Dishwashers Specification, released on 
February 3, 2011.\13\ Although these values represent a technologically 
feasible efficiency level, DOE updated Efficiency Level 2 for this 
final rule analysis based on the ENERGY STAR Version 6.0 Dishwashers 
Specification, which became effective on January 29, 2016. This updated 
specification establishes maximum values of annual energy consumption 
and per-cycle water consumption of 270 kWh/year and 3.5 gal/cycle, 
respectively. For consistency with the current ENERGY STAR 
specification, DOE analyzed Efficiency Level 2 at 270 kWh/year and 3.5 
gal/cycle for this final rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ The draft specification document is available at https://www.energystar.gov/products/specs/sites/products/files/ES_Draft_2_V5.0_Dishwashers_Specification.pdf. DOE notes that this 
level was removed from the Final V5.0 Dishwashers Specification, and 
subsequent specification versions 5.1 and 5.2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In summary, Table IV.5 and Table IV.6 present the efficiency levels 
DOE considered in this final rule analysis.

[[Page 90084]]



    Table IV.5--Final Rule Efficiency Levels--Standard Product Class
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Per-cycle
                                           Annual energy       water
            Efficiency level              use (kWh/year)    consumption
                                                            (gal/cycle)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0--Baseline.............................             307            5.00
1.......................................             295            4.25
2.......................................             270            3.50
3.......................................             255            3.10
4--Max-Tech.............................             225             2.4
------------------------------------------------------------------------


     Table IV.6--Final Rule Efficiency Levels--Compact Product Class
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Per-cycle
                                           Annual energy       water
            Efficiency level              use (kWh/year)    consumption
                                                            (gal/cycle)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0--Baseline.............................             222            3.50
1.......................................             203            3.10
2--Max-Tech.............................             130            1.70
------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Manufacturer Production Cost Estimates
    In the 2014 NOPR, DOE developed MPC estimates for products at each 
efficiency level. To do this, DOE conducted product teardowns and 
referred to the 2012 Direct Final Rule to determine which design 
options manufacturers would likely incorporate at each efficiency 
level. DOE entered information from the teardowns and expected design 
options into its cost model to determine associated MPC estimates for 
products incorporating the expected design options at each efficiency 
level, as described in chapter 5 of the NOPR TSD. Table IV.7 and Table 
IV.8 present the cost-efficiency relationships developed for the 2014 
NOPR. 79 FR 76142, 76155-76156 (Dec. 19, 2014).

             Table IV.7--2014 NOPR Cost-Efficiency Relationship for Standard Residential Dishwashers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Per-cycle      Incremental
                                                                   Annual energy       water       manufacturer
                        Efficiency level                          use (kWh/year)    consumption     production
                                                                                    (gal/cycle)    cost (2013$)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0--Baseline.....................................................             307            5.00  ..............
1...............................................................             295            4.25            9.52
2...............................................................             280            3.50           36.53
3...............................................................             234            3.10           74.72
4--Max-Tech.....................................................             180            2.22           74.72
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


             Table IV.8--2014 NOPR Cost-Efficiency Relationship for Compact Residential Dishwashers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Per-cycle      Incremental
                                                                   Annual energy       water       manufacturer
                        Efficiency level                          use (kWh/year)    consumption     production
                                                                                    (gal/cycle)    cost (2013$)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0--Baseline.....................................................             222            3.50  ..............
1...............................................................             203            3.10            8.01
2--Max-Tech.....................................................             141            2.00           21.50
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    AHAM commented that it is not clear how DOE chose the 
representative products for the baseline and higher efficiency levels, 
and that DOE did not use current information obtained directly from the 
manufacturers in its analysis, leading to an overstated baseline cost 
(by $45 to $60) and understated costs for the higher efficiency levels. 
Specifically, AHAM commented that the overall MPC estimate for 
Efficiency Level 1 was reasonable, but the incremental cost to reach 
that efficiency level was too low due to the overestimated baseline 
cost. According to AHAM, the incremental cost between Efficiency Level 
1 and Efficiency Level 2 is relatively small, but the change to 
Efficiency Level 3 would require significant redesign and cost ($55 to 
$70 beyond Efficiency Level 2). AHAM stated that it was not able to 
comment on costs required to reach Efficiency Level 4 due to lack of 
data for that efficiency level. (AHAM, No. 21 at pp. 3, 6, A-4-A-5) GE 
supported AHAM's claims that DOE overstated the cost of the baseline 
unit and understated the costs of reaching the higher efficiency levels 
(including understating the cost of moving from baseline to Efficiency 
Level 1). GE also stated that Efficiency Level 3 would require

[[Page 90085]]

innovative technology and new platform designs, but the NOPR analysis 
did not account for this invention risk, investment cost, nor the 
potential loss of product utility. (GE, No. 26 at p. 2)
    AHAM stated that it collected data from manufacturers representing 
over 90 percent of shipments in 2014 in order to evaluate the design 
options associated with each efficiency level in the 2014 NOPR. 
According to AHAM, its data show that 92 percent of models that do not 
reach Efficiency Level 3 already use hydraulic system optimization and 
temperature sensors, so manufacturers would not be able to use those 
options to meet more stringent levels. In addition, AHAM stated that 
its data show that 70 percent of models in its data set already employ 
the control strategies DOE described for meeting Efficiency Level 4. 
AHAM commented that all of the incremental changes DOE concluded 
manufacturers could use to improve dishwasher designs from Efficiency 
Level 2 to Efficiency Level 3 are already in use in products that do 
not meet Efficiency Level 3. AHAM suggested that DOE review design 
options with manufacturers to understand how they would reach each 
efficiency level and to update the standards analysis. (AHAM, No. 21 at 
p. 11) GE commented that many of the technology options identified in 
the 2014 NOPR are not included in products to improve energy 
efficiency, which has the effect of overstating the cost of the 
baseline unit. In addition, GE stated that DOE's analysis did not 
adequately capture either the technology path or the costs to move from 
Efficiency Level 2 to Efficiency Level 3 because the design options 
identified for Efficiency Level 3 are either already utilized in 
products at lower efficiency levels, or would not be considered as an 
approach to meet Efficiency Level 3. (GE, No. 26 at p. 2)
    After publishing the 2014 NOPR, DOE reviewed its MPC estimates for 
standard residential dishwashers in its interviews with manufacturers. 
Topics of discussion included the design options that would be used to 
reach each efficiency level for standard products as well as the costs 
associated with those design options. DOE also reviewed its cost 
estimates for other components not directly related to energy and water 
performance to improve its estimates of the total MPCs for products at 
each efficiency level.
    At the baseline efficiency level, DOE revised its MPC estimate 
downwards, as recommended in comments from interested parties and 
supported by the information gained through manufacturer discussions. 
In the 2014 NOPR, DOE had incorporated representative cost estimates 
for non-efficiency components such as racks and detergent dispensers. 
For this final rule analysis, DOE estimated that manufacturers would 
use the lowest cost option available. DOE also revised its cost 
estimates for certain components at the baseline efficiency level based 
on manufacturer feedback. With these revisions, the updated final rule 
baseline MPC is approximately $55 lower than the 2014 NOPR estimate. 
DOE notes that the non-efficiency related component costs that 
decreased from the 2014 NOPR to this final rule at the baseline level 
would also decrease at the higher efficiency levels for this final rule 
because the engineering analysis only considers improvements related to 
efficiency. As a result, the overall MPCs at each analyzed efficiency 
level decreased compared to the 2014 NOPR.
    For the higher efficiency levels, DOE received manufacturer 
feedback that it had identified all of the design options manufacturers 
would use to improve efficiencies. Manufacturers also generally agreed 
with the design options DOE assumed for Efficiency Level 1 and 
Efficiency Level 2. However, with the change to the energy consumption 
at Efficiency Level 2 as described in section IV.C.1.c of this final 
rule, DOE determined that manufacturers would incorporate a water 
diverter assembly at Efficiency Level 2. For this final rule analysis, 
DOE also revised the design options associated with Efficiency Level 3 
and Efficiency Level 4. The key changes were shifting condensation 
drying and an in-sump heater from Efficiency Level 3 to Efficiency 
Level 4. DOE also determined that incorporating condensation drying at 
Efficiency Level 4 would require the use of a stainless steel tub. 
Furthermore, in addition to revising the Efficiency Level 3 and 
Efficiency Level 4 design options, DOE updated its cost estimates for 
specific design options at each efficiency level based on manufacturer 
feedback. This included updating costs for components such as pumps, 
controls, sensors, and portions of the water system. DOE then adjusted 
the MPC estimates to reflect 2015 dollars.
    There were no substantive changes for the compact dishwasher cost-
efficiency relationship other than updating the costs to 2015 dollars. 
Although the max-tech efficiency level for the compact product class 
changed compared to the 2014 NOPR analysis, DOE observed that the 
product offered at the updated max-tech efficiency level appears to 
have the same design as the previous model, and therefore, DOE expects 
the MPC to remain unchanged.
    Table IV.9 and Table IV.10 provide the updated MPC estimates used 
for this final rule analysis. Further details of the engineering 
analysis are provided in chapter 5 of the final rule TSD.

            Table IV.9--Final Rule Cost-Efficiency Relationship for Standard Residential Dishwashers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Per-cycle      Incremental
                                                                  Annual  energy       water       manufacturer
                        Efficiency level                          use (kWh/year)    consumption     production
                                                                                    (gal/cycle)    cost (2015$)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0--Baseline.....................................................             307            5.00  ..............
1...............................................................             295            4.25           14.76
2...............................................................             270            3.50           42.20
3...............................................................             255            3.10           57.61
4--Max-Tech.....................................................             225            2.40           92.20
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 90086]]


            Table IV.10--Final Rule Cost-Efficiency Relationship for Compact Residential Dishwashers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Per-cycle      Incremental
                                                                  Annual  energy       water       manufacturer
                        Efficiency level                          use (kWh/year)    consumption     production
                                                                                    (gal/cycle)    cost (2015$)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0--Baseline.....................................................             222            3.50  ..............
1...............................................................             203            3.10            8.50
2--Max-Tech.....................................................             130            1.70           28.11
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Markups Analysis

    The markups analysis develops appropriate markups (e.g., 
manufacturer markups, retailer markups, distributor markups, contractor 
markups) in the distribution chain and sales taxes to convert the 
manufacturer selling price (MSP) estimates derived based on the MPCs 
determined in the engineering analysis to consumer prices, which are 
then used in the LCC and PBP analysis and in the MIA. At each step in 
the distribution channel, companies mark up the price of the product to 
cover business costs and profit margin. For residential dishwashers, 
the main parties in the distribution chain are manufacturers, 
retailers, and consumers. The manufacturer markup converts MPC to MSP. 
DOE developed an average manufacturer markup by examining the annual 
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 10-K reports filed by 
publicly-traded manufacturers primarily engaged in appliance 
manufacturing and whose combined product range includes residential 
dishwashers.
    For retailers, DOE developed separate markups for baseline products 
(baseline markups) and for the incremental cost of more-efficient 
products (incremental markups). Incremental markups are coefficients 
that account for the change in the MSP of higher-efficiency models and 
the change in the retailer sales price. DOE relied on economic data 
from the U.S. Census Bureau to estimate average baseline and 
incremental markups.
    AHAM criticized DOE's reliance on the concept of incremental 
markups, stating that its theory has been disproved and it is in 
contradiction to empirical evidence. (AHAM, No. 21 at p. 15) In an 
attachment to AHAM's comment, Shorey Consulting, Inc. (Shorey 
Consulting) stated that (1) DOE requires a strong form of economic 
theory, since it is saying that something will happen solely because 
theory says it should; and (2) an a priori resort to economic theory 
without clear empirical support is highly problematic. Shorey 
Consulting interviewed a sample of local/regional and national 
appliance retailers and reported that, with very few exceptions, they 
were skeptical that percentage margins will be lower in a post-
standards situation. Shorey Consulting concluded that DOE needs to 
abandon the incremental margin approach and revert to the average 
margin approach that corresponds to actual industry practice. (AHAM, 
No. 21 at pp. A-10-A-11)
    DOE disagrees that the theory behind the concept of incremental 
markups has been disproved. The concept is based on the theory that an 
increase in profitability, which is implied by keeping a fixed markup 
percentage when the product price goes up, is not likely to be viable 
over time in a business that is reasonably competitive. DOE agrees that 
empirical data on markup practices would be desirable, but such 
information is closely held and difficult to obtain.
    Regarding the Shorey Consulting interviews with appliance 
retailers, although the retailers said that they maintain the same 
percentage margin after amended standards for refrigerators took 
effect, it is not clear to what extent the wholesale prices of 
refrigerators actually increased. There is some empirical evidence 
indicating that prices may not always increase following a new standard 
14 15 16. If this happened to be the case following the new 
refrigerator standard, then there is no reason to suppose that 
percentage margins changed either.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ Spurlock, C. A. 2013. ``Appliance Efficiency Standards and 
Price Discrimination.'' Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Report 
LBNL-6283E.
    \15\ Houde, S. and C. A. Spurlock. 2015. ``Do Energy Efficiency 
Standards Improve Quality? Evidence from a Revealed Preference 
Approach.'' Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Report LBNL-
182701.
    \16\ Taylor, M., C. A. Spurlock, and H.-C. Yang. 2015. 
``Confronting Regulatory Cost and Quality Expectations: An 
Exploration of Technical Change in Minimum Efficiency Performance 
Standards.'' Resources for the Future (RFF) 15-50.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE's analysis necessarily considers a simplified version of the 
world of appliance retailing; namely, a situation in which other than 
appliance product offerings, nothing changes in response to amended 
standards. DOE's analysis assumes that product cost will increase while 
the other costs remain constant (i.e., no change in labor, material, or 
operating costs), and asks whether retailers will be able to keep the 
same markup percentage over time. DOE recognizes that retailers are 
likely to seek to maintain the same markup percentage on appliances if 
the price they pay goes up as a result of appliance standards, but DOE 
contends that over time downward adjustments are likely to occur due to 
competitive pressures. Some retailers may find that they can gain sales 
by reducing the markup and maintaining the same per-unit gross profit 
as they had before the new standard took effect. Additionally, DOE 
contends that retail pricing is more complicated than a simple 
percentage margin or markup. Retailers undertake periodic sales and 
they reduce the prices of older models as new models come out to 
replace them.17 18 19 Even if retailers maintain the same 
percent markup when appliance wholesale prices increase as the result 
of a standard, retailers may respond to competitive pressures and 
revert to pre-standard average per-unit profits by holding more 
frequent sales, discounting products under promotion to a greater 
extent, or discounting older products more quickly. These factors would 
counteract the higher percentage markup on average, resulting in much 
the same effect as a lower percentage markup in terms of the prices 
consumers actually face on average.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ Bagwell, K. and Riordan, M.H., 1991. ``High and declining 
prices signal product quality.'' The American Economic Review, pp. 
224-239.
    \18\ Betts, E. and Peter, J.M., 1995. ``The strategy of the 
retail `sale': Typology, review and synthesis.'' International 
Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 5(3), pp. 303-
331
    \19\ Elmaghraby, W. and Keskinocak, P., 2003. ``Dynamic pricing 
in the presence of inventory considerations: Research overview, 
current practices, and future directions.'' Management Science, 
49(10), pp. 1287-1309.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE acknowledges that its approach to estimating retailer markup 
practices after amended standards take effect is an approximation of 
real-world practices that are both complex and varying with business 
conditions. However, DOE continues to maintain that its assumption that 
standards do not

[[Page 90087]]

facilitate a sustainable increase in profitability is reasonable.
    Chapter 6 of the final rule TSD provides details on DOE's 
development of markups for residential dishwashers.

E. Energy and Water Use Analysis

    The purpose of the energy and water use analysis is to determine 
the annual energy and water consumption of residential dishwashers at 
different efficiencies in representative U.S. single-family homes, 
multi-family, and manufactured housing residences, and to assess the 
energy and water savings potential of increased residential dishwasher 
efficiency. The analysis estimates the range of energy and water use of 
residential dishwashers in the field (i.e., as they are actually used 
by consumers). The energy and water use analysis provides the basis for 
other analyses DOE performed, particularly assessments of the energy 
and water savings and the savings in consumer operating costs that 
could result from adoption of amended or new standards.
    DOE determined a range of annual energy use and per-cycle water 
consumption of residential dishwashers by multiplying the per-cycle 
energy use and per-cycle water use of each considered design by the 
number of cycles per year in a representative sample of U.S. 
households.
    DOE analyzed per-cycle energy consumption based on two components: 
(1) Water-heating energy, and (2) machine electrical energy use which 
consists of primarily of energy for motor operation and for drying. The 
largest component of residential dishwasher energy consumption is 
water-heating energy use, which is the energy required to heat the 
inlet water to the temperature for dishwashing. The machine energy 
consists of the motor energy (for water pumping and food disposal), and 
drying energy consists of heat to dry cleaned dishes.
    DOE estimated the per-cycle water-heating energy consumption based 
on DOE's residential dishwasher test procedure (which refers to this 
quantity as ``water energy consumption''). DOE estimated this energy 
consumption for residential dishwashers that operate with a nominal 
inlet hot water temperature of 120 [deg]F, the most common situation in 
U.S. homes. For a residential dishwasher using electrically heated 
water, the water-heating energy consumption, expressed in kWh per 
cycle, is equal to the water consumption per cycle times a nominal 
water heater temperature rise of 70 [deg]F times the specific heat of 
water (0.0024 kWh per gallon per [deg]F).\20\ For a residential 
dishwasher using gas-heated or oil-heated water, the calculation is the 
same, but also incorporates a nominal water heater recovery efficiency 
of 0.80 for gas-fired water heating and 0.78 for oil-fired water 
heating.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ The water heater temperature rise of 70 [deg]F assumes an 
average water heater inlet temperature of 50 [deg], as specified as 
the national average in the dishwasher test procedure.
    \21\ The recovery efficiency indicates how efficient a water 
heater is at heating water. The DOE test procedure for dishwashers 
specifies a recovery efficiency of 0.80 for gas-fired water heating 
and 0.78 for oil-fired water heating, which is representative of gas 
and oil water heaters currently in the housing stock.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE estimated the per-cycle energy use by subtracting the annual 
energy use associated with standby power from the total annual energy 
use and dividing the result by the national average number of 
residential dishwasher cycles per year. DOE used the following data 
from the engineering analysis for each considered efficiency level: The 
total annual residential dishwasher energy use and the standby power 
use.
    DOE determined the standby annual energy consumption by multiplying 
the energy use in standby mode per hour by the hours the residential 
dishwasher is in standby mode. Standby mode hours are the difference 
between the number of hours in a year and the active hours. Active 
hours are equal to the number of residential dishwasher cycles per year 
multiplied by cycle time, estimated to be 1 hour.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \22\ The 1-hour cycle time is an estimate of the typical cycle 
time for a dishwasher. Actual cycle times vary based on wash 
selection, load, and model of dishwasher.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    GE noted that DOE indicated that the average dishwasher cycle time 
is one hour, but AHAM data collected from companies representing over 
90 percent of the market indicates that shipment-weighted average cycle 
time is 1.76 hours. (GE, No. 26 at pp. 2-3) DOE notes that the 1-hour 
estimate is used in calculating the number of standby and off mode 
hours to determine the overall energy consumption in those modes. Using 
1.76 hours has less than a 2-percent change on the number of hours 
associated with standby mode or off mode, which already represents a 
small portion of overall energy consumption. So, DOE expects any change 
to the energy use associated with the assumed cycle time to be 
negligible. DOE will consider whether revisions to the cycle time are 
appropriate when it next revises its test procedure for dishwashers.
    DOE estimated the per-cycle water use for each efficiency level in 
its engineering analysis, as described in chapter 5 of the final rule 
TSD.
    For the NOPR, to estimate the average number of dishwasher cycles 
per year in a representative sample of U.S. households, DOE relied on a 
review of survey data it used to develop the 2003 residential 
dishwasher test procedure amendments. Survey data on consumers' 
dishwasher usage habits were collected from a number of sources 
including the EIA's 1997 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), 
\23\ several residential dishwasher manufacturers, detergent 
manufacturers, energy and consumer interest groups, independent 
researchers, and government agencies. These data yielded an average 
usage of 215 cycles per year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ RECS is a national sample survey of housing units that 
collects statistical information on the consumption of and 
expenditures for energy in housing units along with data on energy-
related characteristics of the housing units and occupants. For 
information on RECS, see www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    AHAM commented that DOE used outdated assumptions on the number of 
annual dishwasher cycles, including disregard for recent RECS data used 
extensively by DOE in its analyses in favor of the 1997 RECS data. 
(AHAM, No. 21 at p. 15) In an attachment to AHAM's comment, Shorey 
Consulting stated that DOE should either use the average number of 
cycles per year from the 2009 RECS, or substitute the 2009 RECS data 
for the 1997 data in the Arthur D. Little (ADL) study. (AHAM, No. 21 at 
p. A-6)
    For the final rule, DOE used an average value based on the 2009 
RECS data rather than the 1997 RECS average originally used in the 
review of survey data in the ADL study.\24\ These survey data from the 
ADL study provided a comprehensive data set of point estimates which 
the RECS data alone do not provide, and are therefore more reflective 
of dishwasher use nation-wide.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ Arthur D. Little Inc. Review of Survey Data to Support 
Revisions to DOE's Dishwasher Test Procedurehttps://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EERE-2014-BT-STD-0021-0001.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Of the more than 12,000 households in the 2009 RECS, almost 7,400 
have residential dishwashers. For each household using a residential 
dishwasher, RECS provides data on the number of residential dishwasher 
cycles in the following bins: (1) Less than once per week, (2) once per 
week, (3) 2-3 times per week, (4) 4-6 times per week, and (5) at least 
once per day. DOE converted the above information to annual values. DOE 
amended its characterization of the RECS usage bins to eliminate the 
gaps in the number of annual cycles that had existed in the

[[Page 90088]]

NOPR analysis.\25\ The variability of each bin was accounted for by 
using triangular distributions for the least and most usage bins and 
uniform distributions for the three middle bins. This revision changed 
the weighted average annual cycles from the 171 value used for the NOPR 
to 204 cycles per year. DOE used the 204 cycles derived from the 2009 
RECS (rather than the 245 cycles, the value derived from the 1997 
RECS), and followed the method used to derive the average usage of 215 
cycles per year for the DOE test procedure. The substitution of the 
2009 RECS average changed the average cyles per year from 215 to 207, 
which DOE used for the final rule. The revisions made for the final 
rule are described in chapter 7 of the final rule TSD.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ For the lowest bin, usage ranges from 1 to 51 cycles per 
year; for the bin ``once per week,'' usage ranges from 51 to 103 
cycles per year; for the bin ``2-3 times per week,'' usage ranges 
from 104 to 207 cycles per year; for the bin ``4-6 times per week,'' 
usage ranges from 208 to 364 cycles per year; and for the highest 
bin, usage ranges from 365 to 730 cycles per year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To develop the variability of dishwasher use, DOE used the revised 
bin ranges from the 2009 RECS. DOE randomly assigned a specific 
numerical value from within the appropriate bin to each household in 
the residential dishwasher sample. Following the method used for the 
NOPR, DOE then scaled the assigned usage to the revised average from 
the survey data (207 cycles/year).
    Table IV.11 and Table IV.12 show the estimated average annual 
energy and water use for each efficiency level analyzed for standard 
and compact residential dishwashers.

     Table IV.11--Standard Residential Dishwashers: Average Annual Energy and Water Use by Efficiency Level
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Annual energy use
                                 ----------------------------------------------------------------
        Efficiency level                             Machine +        Standby                      Annual water
                                  Water  heating   drying (kWh/   [dagger] (kWh/    Total (kWh/   use (gal/year)
                                   * (kWh/year)        year)           year)           year)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baseline........................           177.0           130.0             0.0             307         1,075.0
1...............................           150.4           140.3             4.3             295           913.8
2...............................           123.9           141.8             4.3             270           752.5
3...............................           109.7           141.0             4.3             255           666.5
4...............................            85.0           135.8             4.3             225           516.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Shown for the case of electrically heated water.
[dagger] Standby annual energy use based on a dishwasher cycle length of one hour. Standby hours = 8,760 hours -
  (215 cycles x 1 hour) = 8,545 hours. The 215 cycles is used in the test procedure.


      Table IV.12--Compact Residential Dishwashers: Average Annual Energy and Water Use by Efficiency Level
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Annual energy use
                                 ----------------------------------------------------------------
        Efficiency level                             Machine +        Standby                      Annual water
                                  Water  heating   drying (kWh/   [dagger] (kWh/    Total (kWh/   use (gal/year)
                                   * (kWh/year)        year)           year)           year)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baseline........................           123.9            78.4            19.7             222           752.5
1...............................           109.7            78.7            14.5             203           666.5
2...............................            60.2            65.5             4.3             130           365.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Shown for the case of electrically heated water.
[dagger] Standby annual energy use based on a dishwasher cycle length of 1 hour. Standby hours = 8,760 hours -
  (215 cycles x 1 hour) = 8,545 hours.

    Chapter 7 of the final rule TSD provides details on DOE's energy 
and water use analysis for residential dishwashers.

F. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period Analysis

    DOE conducted LCC and PBP analyses to evaluate the economic impacts 
on individual consumers of potential energy conservation standards for 
residential dishwashers. The effect of new or amended energy 
conservation standards on individual consumers usually involves a 
reduction in operating cost and an increase in purchase price. DOE used 
the following two metrics to measure consumer impacts:
     The LCC is the total consumer expense of an appliance or 
product over the life of that product, consisting of total installed 
cost (manufacturer selling price, distribution chain markups, sales 
tax, and installation costs) plus operating costs (expenses for energy 
and water use, maintenance, and repair). To compute the operating 
costs, DOE discounts future operating costs to the time of purchase and 
sums them over the lifetime of the product.
     The simple PBP is the estimated amount of time (in years) 
it takes consumers to recover the increased purchase cost (including 
installation) of a more-efficient product through lower operating 
costs. DOE calculates the simple PBP by dividing the change in purchase 
cost at higher efficiency levels by the change in annual operating cost 
for the year that amended or new standards are assumed to take effect.
    For any given efficiency level, DOE measures the change in LCC 
relative to the LCC in the no-new-standards case, which reflects the 
estimated efficiency distribution of dishwashers in the absence of new 
or amended energy conservation standards. In contrast, the simple PBP 
for a given efficiency level is measured relative to the baseline 
product.
    For each considered efficiency level in each product class, DOE 
calculated the LCC and PBP for a nationally representative set of 
housing units. As stated previously, DOE developed household samples 
from the 2009 RECS. For each sample household, DOE determined the 
energy and water consumption for residential dishwashers and the 
appropriate energy price. By developing a representative

[[Page 90089]]

sample of households, the analysis captured the variability in energy 
and water consumption and energy and water prices associated with the 
use of residential dishwashers.
    Inputs to the calculation of total installed cost include the cost 
of the product--which includes MPCs, manufacturer markups, retailer 
markups, and sales taxes--and installation costs. Inputs to the 
calculation of operating expenses include annual energy and water 
consumption, energy and water prices and price projections, repair and 
maintenance costs, product lifetimes, and discount rates. DOE created 
distributions of values for product lifetime, discount rates, and sales 
taxes, with probabilities attached to each value, to account for their 
uncertainty and variability.
    The computer model DOE uses to calculate the LCC and PBP, which 
incorporates Crystal Ball\TM\ (a commercially-available software 
program), relies on a Monte Carlo simulation to incorporate uncertainty 
and variability into the analysis. The Monte Carlo simulations randomly 
sample input values from the probability distributions and residential 
dishwasher user samples. The model calculated the LCC and PBP for 
products at each efficiency level for 10,000 housing units per 
simulation run.
    DOE calculated the LCC and PBP for all consumers as if each were to 
purchase a new product in the expected year of compliance with amended 
standards. For purposes of its analysis, DOE estimated that any amended 
standards would apply to residential dishwashers manufactured 3 years 
after the date on which the amended standard is published. (42 U.S.C. 
6295(g)(10)(B)) DOE estimated publication of a final rule in 2016. 
Therefore, for purposes of its analysis, DOE used 2019 as the first 
year of compliance.
    Table IV.13 summarizes the approach and data DOE used to derive 
inputs to the LCC and PBP calculations. The subsections that follow 
provide further discussion. Details of the spreadsheet model, and of 
all the inputs to the LCC and PBP analyses, are contained in chapter 8 
of the final rule TSD and its appendices.

 Table IV.13--Summary of Inputs and Methods for the LCC and PBP Analysis
                                    *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Inputs                           Source/method
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Cost.................  Derived by multiplying MPCs by
                                manufacturer and retailer markups and
                                sales tax, as appropriate. Used
                                historical data to derive a price
                                scaling index to project product costs.
Installation Costs...........  Baseline installation cost determined
                                with data from RS Means. Assumed no
                                change with efficiency level.
Annual Energy Use............  Per cycle energy use multiplied by the
                                total cycles per year.
                               Average number of cycles based on ADL
                                field data and substituting the 2009
                                RECS average cycles for the 1997 RECS
                                average cycles in the final rule
                                analysis.
                               Variability: Based on the 2009 RECS
                                normalized to the average number of
                                cycles.
Energy Prices................  Electricity: Average and marginal prices
                                based on Edison Electric Institute (EEI)
                                2014.
                               Gas: Based on EIA's Natural Gas Navigator
                                for 2014.
                               Liquified petroleum gas (LPG): Based on
                                EIA's State Energy Consumption, Price
                                and Expenditures Estimates for 2014.
                               Variability: Regional energy prices
                                determined for 27 regions.
Energy Price Trends..........  Based on AEO 2016 price projections.
Water Prices.................  Based on Raftelis Financial Consultants
                                and the American Water Works
                                Association's 2014 Water and Wastewater
                                Rate Survey
                               Variability: By census region.
Water Price Trends...........  Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
                                2016 water price index.
Repair and Maintenance Costs.  Assumed no change with efficiency level.
Product Lifetime.............  Estimated using survey results from RECS
                                (1990, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009) and
                                the U.S. Census American Housing Survey
                                (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013), along
                                with historic data on appliance
                                shipments.
                               Variability: Characterized using Weibull
                                probability distributions.
Discount Rates...............  Approach involves identifying all
                                possible debt or asset classes that
                                might be used to purchase the considered
                                appliances, or might be affected
                                indirectly. Primary data source was the
                                Federal Reserve Board's Survey of
                                Consumer Finances.
Compliance Date..............  2019.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* References for the data sources mentioned in this table are provided
  in the sections following the table or in chapter 8 of the final rule
  TSD.

1. Product Cost
    To calculate consumer product costs, DOE multiplied the MPCs 
developed in the engineering analysis by the markups described above 
(along with sales taxes). DOE used different markups for baseline 
products and higher-efficiency products, because DOE applies an 
incremental markup to the increase in MSP associated with higher-
efficiency products.
    Economic literature and historical data suggest that the real costs 
of many products may trend downward over time according to ``learning'' 
or ``experience'' curves. An experience curve analysis focuses on 
entire industries (often operating globally) and aggregates over many 
causal factors that may not be well characterized. Experience curve 
analysis implicitly includes factors such as efficiencies in labor, 
capital investment, automation, materials prices, distribution, and 
economies of scale at an industry-wide level.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \26\ Taylor, M. and Fujita, K.S. Accounting for Technological 
Change in Regulatory Impact Analyses: The Learning Curve Technique. 
LBNL-6195E. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA. 
April 2013. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3c8709p4#page-1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For the default price trend, DOE estimated an experience rate for 
residential dishwashers based on an analysis of long-term historical 
data. Producer Price Index (PPI) data specific to residential 
dishwashers were not available. Instead, DOE used PPI data for 
miscellaneous household appliances (1988 to 2014) from the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (BLS). An inflation-adjusted price index was 
calculated using the implicit price deflators for gross domestic 
product (GDP) for the same years. This series was then regressed on the 
cumulative quantity of residential dishwashers produced, based on a

[[Page 90090]]

corresponding series for total shipments of residential dishwashers.
    To calculate an experience rate, a least-squares power-law fit was 
performed on the residential dishwasher price index versus cumulative 
shipments (including imports). DOE then derived a price factor index, 
with the price in 2014 equal to 1, to project prices in the year of 
compliance for amended energy conservation standards in the LCC and PBP 
analysis, and for the NIA, for each subsequent year through 2048. The 
index value in each year is a function of the experience rate and the 
cumulative production through that year. To derive the latter, DOE used 
projected shipments from the base-case projections made for the NIA 
(see section IV.G of this final rule). The average annual rate of price 
decline in the default case is 1.25 percent.
2. Installation Cost
    Installation cost includes labor, overhead, and any miscellaneous 
materials and parts needed to install the product. DOE used data from 
RS Means to estimate the baseline installation cost for residential 
dishwashers. DOE found no evidence that installation costs would be 
impacted with increased efficiency levels.
3. Annual Energy and Water Consumption
    For each sampled household, DOE determined the energy consumption 
for residential dishwashers at different efficiency levels using the 
approach described above in section IV.E of this final rule.
4. Energy Prices
    For electricity, DOE used marginal and average prices which vary by 
season, region, and baseline electricity consumption level. DOE 
estimated these prices using data published with the Edison Electric 
Institute (EEI), Typical Bill and Average Rates reports for summer and 
winter 2014. For the residential sector each report provides, for most 
of the major investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in the country, the total 
bill assuming household consumption levels of 500, 750, and 1,000 kWh 
for the billing period. See Chapter 8 of the final rule TSD for more 
information on the methodology.
    To value energy savings from reduced hot water use by the 
dishwasher, DOE calculated average residential natural gas prices for 
each of the 27 geographic regions using data from EIA's ``Natural Gas 
Navigator.'' \27\ DOE calculated average residential liquified 
petroleum gas (LPG) prices for each of the 27 geographic regions using 
data from EIA's ``State Energy Consumption, Price, and Expenditures 
Estimates (SEDS).'' \28\ DOE calculated average annual regional 
residential prices by: (1) Estimating an average residential price for 
each State; and (2) weighting each State by the number of residential 
consumers. The final rule analysis used the data for 2014.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \27\ Available at: http://www.eia.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/data_publications/natural_gas_monthly/ngm.html.
    \28\ Available at: http://www.eia.gov/state/seds/seds-data-fuel.cfm?sid=US.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To estimate energy prices in future years, DOE multiplied the 
average regional energy prices by a projection of annual change in 
national-average residential energy price consistent with the 
projections found on page E-8 in the AEO 2016, which has an end year of 
2040.\29\ To estimate price trends after 2040, DOE used the average 
annual rate of change in prices from 2030 to 2040.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \29\ EIA. Annual Energy Outlook 2016 with Projections to 2040. 
Washington, DC. Available at www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/. The 
standards finalized in this rulemaking will take effect before the 
requirements of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) as modeled in the AEO 
2016 reference case, putting downward pressure on electricity prices 
relative to the projections in this AEO 2016 CPP case. Consequently, 
DOE used the more conservative price projections found in the AEO 
2016 No-CPP case.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Water and Wastewater Prices
    DOE obtained data on water and wastewater prices for 2014 from the 
Water and Wastewater Rate Survey conducted by Raftelis Financial 
Consultants \30\ and the water utility association, American Water 
Works Association (AWWA). The survey, which analyzes each industry 
separately, covers approximately 318 water utilities and 231 wastewater 
utilities. The survey includes, for each utility, the cost to consumers 
of purchasing a given volume of water or treating a given volume of 
wastewater. The data provide a division of the total consumer cost into 
fixed and volumetric charges. DOE's calculations use only the 
volumetric charge to calculate water and wastewater prices, because 
only this charge is affected by a change in water use. Average water 
and wastewater prices were estimated for each of four census regions. 
Each RECS household was assigned a water and wastewater price depending 
on its census region location.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \30\ AWWA and Raftelis. 2014 Water and Wastewater Rate Survey. 
(Available at: < http://www.awwa.org/store/productdetail.aspx?productid=47549801.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE included well water prices for well water users using 
information from the National Groundwater Association. Given the 
similarity in operating costs between septice systems and public sewer 
systems and the lack of national data on septic system costs, DOE used 
the wastewater price calculated for consumers on public sewer systems 
for users of septic systems. Chapter 8 of the final rule TSD provides 
details on DOE's energy and water price development.
    To estimate the future trend for water and wastewater prices, DOE 
used data on the historic trend in the national water price index (U.S. 
city average) from 1986 through 2014. DOE used the historic inflation-
adjusted water price trend to project water and wastewater prices for 
residential dishwashers.
    AHAM commented that DOE should use water and wastewater prices 
specific to well water and septic users. (AHAM, No. 21 at p. 16) As 
mentioned above, DOE included well water prices for well water users. 
DOE uses the wastewater price calculated for consumers on public sewer 
systems for users of septic systems. DOE notes that well water and 
septic users account for a very small fraction of dishwasher consumers.
6. Maintenance and Repair Costs
    Repair costs are associated with repairing or replacing dishwasher 
components that have failed in an appliance; maintenance costs are 
associated with maintaining the operation of the product. Typically, 
small incremental increases in product efficiency produce no, or only 
minor, changes in repair and maintenance costs compared to baseline 
efficiency products.
    For the 2014 NOPR, DOE requested information as to whether 
maintenance and repair costs are a function of efficiency level and 
product class. DOE did not assume that more efficient residential 
dishwashers would have greater repair or maintenance costs.
7. Product Lifetime
    Because the lifetime of appliances varies depending on utilization 
and other factors, DOE develops a distribution of lifetimes from which 
specific values are assigned to the appliances in the household sample. 
DOE conducted an analysis of residential dishwasher lifetimes in the 
field based on a combination of shipments data, RECS data on the 
reported age of the residential dishwashers, and dishwasher stock data 
reported in the U.S. Census Bureau's American Housing Survey.\31\ As 
described in chapter 8 of the NOPR TSD, the analysis yielded an 
estimate of

[[Page 90091]]

mean age for residential dishwashers of approximately 15 years. It also 
yielded a survival function that DOE incorporated as a probability 
distribution in its LCC analysis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \31\ http://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    AHAM stated that the lifetime of dishwashers should be shorter. It 
cited two references, an AHAM study conducted in 2011 and a report from 
2010.\32\ (AHAM, No. 21 at p. 16)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \32\ Welch, Cory and Brad Rogers, 2010. Estimating the Remaining 
Useful Lifetime of Residential Appliances. American Council on 
Energy Efficient Economy Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in 
Buildings. http://aceee.org/files/proceedings/2010/data/papers/1977.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE did not receive data from the AHAM study nor is the AHAM 2011 
study publically available. DOE reviewed the 2010 report, which 
analyzed data from a Natural Resources Canada survey,\33\ and fit these 
data to a Weibull function. The authors of the 2010 report found a 
shape factor similar to DOE's, but their calculation produced a shorter 
average lifetime (12.6 years vs. 15.4 years estimated by DOE for the 
2014 NOPR). The Canadian survey, which took place in 2003, asked the 
age of the previous dishwasher when replaced. Such replacements 
presumably would have taken place during the previous 10-15 years, 
meaning that the dishwashers were produced even before that. The 
lifetime of products of that vintage is not relevant to the lifetime of 
dishwashers produced in the near future. Both the technology and 
consumer utilization patterns have changed. The evidence suggests that 
the number of cycles per year was higher in the past, which would lead 
to a shorter lifetime. Moreover, the accuracy of Natural Resources 
Canada's survey of dishwasher age is highly uncertain because it was 
performed only once and did not show the variability of dishwasher 
vintage over time. In contrast, DOE's method of estimating lifetime 
uses both historical and more recent data that show how the age of the 
dishwasher stock has changed over time rather than taking a snap shot 
of a single year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \33\ Natural Resources Canada, Office of Energy Efficiency. 
2003. ``Survey of Household Energy Use (SHEU), Detailed Statistical 
Report.'' http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/statistics/sheu03/pdf/sheu03.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Discount Rates
    In the calculation of LCC, DOE applies discount rates appropriate 
to households to estimate the present value of future operating costs. 
DOE estimated a distribution of residential discount rates for 
residential dishwashers based on consumer financing costs and 
opportunity cost of funds related to appliance energy cost savings and 
maintenance costs.
    To establish residential discount rates for the LCC analysis, DOE 
identified all relevant household debt or asset classes to approximate 
a consumer's opportunity cost of funds related to appliance energy cost 
savings. It estimated the average percentage shares of the various 
types of debt and equity by household income group using data from the 
Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances \34\ (SCF) for 
1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, and 2013. Using the SCF and other 
sources, DOE developed a distribution of rates for each type of debt 
and asset by income group to represent the rates that may apply in the 
year in which amended standards would take effect. DOE assigned each 
sample household a specific discount rate drawn from one of the 
distributions. The average rate across all types of household debt and 
equity and income groups, weighted by the shares of each type, is 4.34 
percent. See chapter 8 in the final rule TSD for further details on the 
development of consumer discount rates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \34\ The Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances 
1989, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013. http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/scfindex.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    AHAM suggested that DOE should use marginal rather than average 
consumer cost of capital for its discount rate. It pointed to DOE's 
assumption that, in the long term, consumers are likely to draw from or 
add to their collection of debt and asset holdings approximately in 
proportion to their current holdings when future expenditures are 
required or future savings accumulate, and stated that DOE does not 
analyze whether consumers' actual long-term marginal cost of funds 
approximates their current mix of funds. It stated that in looking at 
the percentage share of consumer balance sheets made up of different 
types of assets and debts, DOE does not consider whether consumers 
could add to any of these asset or liability classes and/or what it 
would mean in the savings/consumption trade-off to do so. It stated 
that the percentages obscure the absolute magnitude of the amounts 
available to consumers and the relative ability to generate additional 
funds from the various sources. It stated that forms of consumer debt 
such as credit card, other installment loan, or other residential loan 
should be considered as the only marginal source of funds. It stated 
that the weighted average real cost of credit card, other installment 
loan, other residential loan, and other line of credit, which would be 
10-12 percent depending on income group, would provide a more accurate 
estimate of the marginal cost of capital to consumers. (AHAM, No. 21 at 
pp. A-11-12)
    DOE notes that several stakeholders have suggested the use of a 
marginal discount rate in the LCC analysis, defined as the interest 
rate applicable to the specific method of financing an appliance 
purchase. Generally, this is assumed to be the interest rate on credit 
card purchases. For the reasons explained in the following paragraph, 
DOE does not use a marginal discount rate in the LCC analysis.
    The LCC analysis estimates the net present value of the financial 
impacts of a given standard level over the lifetime of the product 
(i.e., 30 years) assuming the standard-compliant product has already 
been installed. The appropriate discount rate in this context is the 
consumer's opportunity cost of increased spending today on a more 
efficient product with a return in the form of reduced operating costs 
in the future. The opportunity cost of an investment is the return a 
consumer could make on that upfront incremental cost by applying it to 
another investment option. For example, a consumer could pay for an 
appliance with cash, thereby forgoing potential earnings arising from 
interest or forgoing the opportunity to pay off existing debt. 
Alternatively, a consumer could take on debt by using credit to either 
pay for the purchase of the more efficient appliance, or could put that 
credit towards an alternative investment option. If a consumer pays for 
the incremental up-front cost of a more efficient appliance using such 
debt, they will face the interest rate relevant for that purchase for 
however long the principal remains in that line of credit. However, the 
consumer will receive a stream of future benefits in the form of energy 
expenditure savings that they could either put towards paying off that 
or other debts, or towards assets, depending on the restrictions they 
face in their debt payment requirements and the relative size of the 
interest rates on their debts and assets.
    Consumers, however, do not tend to shift all of their funds to 
assets with the highest interest rate, nor away from debt types with 
the highest interest rate. Examination of many years of data from the 
SCF \35\ suggests that, at the time of each survey, the vast majority 
of households held multiple types of debt

[[Page 90092]]

and/or assets. This tendency is observed across numerous cross-sections 
of the population, such as income groups, geographic locations, and age 
of household head. This is because consumers hold a portfolio of debts 
and assets for a reason. Different credit and asset options reflect 
differing levels of risk, availability, or other factors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \35\ Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (1995, 
1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013). ``Survey of Consumer 
Finances.'' Retrieved August, 2015, from http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/scfindex.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    When assessing the net present value of an investment in energy 
efficiency, the marginal interest rate alone (assuming it were the 
interest rate on the credit card used to make the purchase, for 
example) would only be the relevant discount rate if either: (1) The 
consumer were restricted from rebalancing debt and asset holdings (by 
redistributing debt and assets based on the relative interest rates 
available) over the entire time period modeled in the LCC analysis; or 
(2) the risk associated with an investment in energy efficiency was at 
a level commensurate with that reflected by credit card interest rates 
(i.e., that the risk premium required for an investment in energy 
efficiency was very high). Below each of these points is addressed in 
turn:
    (1) In reference to (1), above, the following provides quantitative 
justification for the assertion that even if an appliance is purchased 
with a credit card, few people are likely to keep that purchase on 
their credit card, thereby paying 20 percent interest on the purchase 
throughout the product lifetime, while only paying off that purchase 
with the operating cost savings realized from the more efficient 
product. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) tracks ``non-
mortgage interest paid by households.'' \36\ Non-mortgage interest paid 
by households peaked in the recession, reflecting the fact that it was 
harder for people to pay down credit cards during that time, then 
returned to more or less flat pre-recession levels thereafter. The fact 
that interest payments have this flat trend over a long-term time 
horizon, even while people are using credit cards to make purchases 
more and more frequently,\37\ implies that credit card debt itself is 
not increasing on average, and therefore people must be paying off 
those credit card purchases and rebalancing their portfolio of debt and 
assets over time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \36\ U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2015). ``Table 7.11. 
Interest Paid and Received by Sector and Legal Form of 
Organization.'' Retrieved June, 2016, from http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=9#reqid=9&step=3&isuri=1&903=288.
    \37\ New, C. (2012). ``Cash Dying As Credit Card Payments 
Predicted To Grow In Volume.'' Retrieved June, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/credit-card-payments-growth_n_1575417.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, a Federal Reserve report addressing consumer credit 
card use and payment behavior summarizes a 1999-2000 survey, revealing, 
that among bank-type credit card users,\38\ a substantial share of 
consumers (about two-thirds) regularly pay any and all outstanding 
credit card balance in full, and a vast majority of the remaining one-
third pay more than the minimum payment due.\39\ Of those that only pay 
the minimum payment due, most do not continue incurring additional debt 
on that credit card.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \38\ Bank-type credit cards (i.e., cards issued by a bank rather 
than a retail store, gas company, and other such issuers) represent 
the majority of credit cards in use. Data from the 1990s, presented 
earlier in this Federal Reserve report, suggest that consumers are 
approximately twice as likely to carry a balance on a bank-type 
credit card as compared to on credit cards from other issuers.
    \39\ Durkin, T. A. (2000). ``Credit Cards: Use and Consumer 
Attitudes, 1970-2000.'' Federal Reserve Bulletin September 2000: 
623-634.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (2) With respect to a reasonable risk premium applicable to an 
investment in energy efficiency, DOE notes that there is some 
uncertainty surrounding returns to an energy efficiency investment 
(e.g., fluctuations in energy prices). While there is limited data 
available on the risk associated with specific types of energy 
efficiency investments, Mills et al. (2006) \40\ present results from 
an analysis demonstrating that the risk associated with the returns 
from investing in an ENERGY STAR Building are in line with that of 
long-term government bonds (i.e., quite low). There is no reason to 
assume that the risk premium required for an investment in energy 
efficiency should be particularly high, and certainly not high enough 
to justify a required rate of return at a level commensurate with a 
credit card interest rate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ Mills, E., Kromer, S., Weiss, G. and Mathew, P.A., 2006. 
``From volatility to value: analysing and managing financial and 
performance risk in energy savings projects.'' Energy Policy, 34(2), 
pp. 188-199.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE concludes that the best proxy for the appropriate discount rate 
to assess the value of an investment in a higher efficiency product in 
the context of the LCC analysis is the weighted average interest rate 
from the portfolio of debts and assets held by that household. This 
value best reflects the opportunity cost of the upfront investment in 
efficiency to that individual household, and assumes that the household 
will be able to rebalance their portfolio of debt and asset holdings 
over the long-term timeframe of the LCC analysis.
9. Efficiency Distribution in the No-New-Standards Case
    To accurately estimate the share of consumers that would be 
affected by a potential energy conservation standard at a particular 
efficiency level, DOE's LCC analysis considered the projected 
distribution (market shares) of product efficiencies in the no-new-
standards case (i.e., the case without amended or new energy 
conservation standards).
    DOE first considered the historical shipments-weighted base-case 
efficiency trend that was developed for the previous rulemaking for 
residential dishwashers based on data submitted by AHAM. Based on these 
historical data, DOE projected a future decline in annual energy use of 
new dishwashers using an exponential function. This projection was not 
performed for compact dishwashers, because too few data were available. 
DOE then conducted an efficiency distribution anslysis for dishwashers 
based on DOE's Compliance Certification Database for residential 
dishwashers. The estimated market shares for the no-new-standards case 
for residential dishwashers are shown in Table IV.14. See chapter 8 of 
the final rule TSD for further information on the derivation of the 
efficiency distributions.

         Table IV.14--Residential Dishwasher Base-Case Efficiency Distribution by Product Class in 2019
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Standard                         Compact
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
                Efficiency level                  Annual  energy       % of       Annual  energy       % of
                                                  use (kWh/year)     shipments    use (kWh/year)     shipments
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baseline........................................             307             6.5             222            37.0
1...............................................             295            31.2             203            51.9
2...............................................             270            51.6             130            11.1

[[Page 90093]]

 
3...............................................             255            10.2  ..............  ..............
4...............................................             225             0.4  ..............  ..............
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10. Payback Period Analysis
    The PBP is the amount of time it takes the consumer to recover the 
additional installed cost of more-efficient products, compared to 
baseline products, through energy cost savings. PBPs are expressed in 
years. PBPs that exceed the life of the product mean that the increased 
total installed cost is not recovered in reduced operating expenses.
    The inputs to the simple PBP calculation for each efficiency level 
are the change in total installed cost of the product and the change in 
the first-year annual operating expenditures relative to the baseline. 
The simple PBP calculation uses the same inputs as the LCC analysis, 
except that discount rates are not needed.
    As noted above, EPCA, as amended, establishes a rebuttable 
presumption that a standard is economically justified if the Secretary 
finds that the additional cost to the consumer of purchasing a product 
complying with an energy conservation standard level will be less than 
three times the value of the first year's energy savings resulting from 
the standard, as calculated under the applicable test procedure. (42 
U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(iii)) For each considered efficiency level, DOE 
determined the value of the first year's energy savings by calculating 
the energy savings in accordance with the applicable DOE test 
procedure, and multiplying those savings by the average energy price 
projection for the year in which compliance with the amended standards 
would be required.

G. Shipments Analysis

    DOE uses projections of annual product shipments to calculate the 
national impacts of potential amended energy conservation standards on 
energy use, NPV, and future manufacturer cash flows.\41\ The shipments 
model takes an accounting approach, tracking market shares of each 
product class and the vintage of units in the stock. Stock accounting 
uses product shipments as inputs to estimate the age distribution of 
in-service product stocks for all years. The age distribution of in-
service product stocks is a key input to calculations of both the NES 
and NPV, because operating costs for any year depend on the age 
distribution of the stock.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \41\ DOE uses data on manufacturer shipments as a proxy for 
national sales, since aggregate data on sales are lacking. In 
general one would expect a close correspondence between shipments 
and sales.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    New housing projections and residential dishwasher saturation data 
comprised the two primary inputs for DOE's estimates of new 
construction shipments. ``New housing'' includes newly-constructed 
single-family and multi-family units (referred to as ``new housing 
completions'') and mobile home placements. For new housing completions 
and mobile home placements, DOE used AEO 2016 for 2012-2040, and froze 
new housing starts at the level in 2040.
    DOE calibrated the shipments model against historical residential 
dishwasher shipments. In general, DOE estimated replacements using a 
product retirement function developed from product lifetime. DOE based 
the retirement function on a probability distribution for the product 
lifetime that was developed in the LCC analysis. The shipments model 
assumes that no units are retired below a minimum product lifetime and 
that all units are retired before exceeding a maximum product lifetime.
    For the final rule, DOE applied price and efficiency elasticity 
parameters to estimate the effect of new standards on residential 
dishwasher shipments. DOE estimated the price and efficiency elasticity 
parameters from a regression analysis that incorporated shipments, 
purchase price, and efficiency data specific to several residential 
appliances, including clothes washers, dishwashers, freezers, 
refrigerators, and room air conditioners, during 1989-2009. Based on 
evidence that the price elasticity of demand is significantly different 
over the short run and long run for other consumer goods (i.e., 
automobiles), A review of the literature shows evidence from numerous 
markets for durable goods including automobiles, electronics, and 
refrigerators, suggests long run price elasticity of demand is smaller 
in magnitude than short run price elasticity of deman; thus a declining 
trend over time is applied to the estimate of price elasticity for 
appliances following a price increase subsequent to a standard, 
therefore, DOE assumed that these elasticities decline over 
time.42 43 44 DOE estimated shipments in each standards case 
using the price and efficiency elasticity along with the change in the 
product price and operating costs between a standards case and the no-
new-standards case. See chapter 9 of the final rule TSD for further 
information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \42\ Gowrisankaran, Gautam and Marc Rysman. Dynamics of consumer 
demand for new durable goods. NBER Working Paper 14737, National 
Bureau of Economic Research, February 2009. http://www.nber.org/papers/w14737.
    \43\ Hymans, Saul H., Gardner Ackley, and F. Thomas Juster. 
Consumer durable spending: Explanation and prediction. Brookings 
Papers on Economic Activity, 1970(2):173-206, 1970. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2534239.
    \44\ Parker, Philip and Ramya Neelamegham. Price elasticity 
dynamics over the product life cycle: A study of consumer durables. 
Marketing Letters, 8(2):205-216, April 1997. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1007962520455.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

H. National Impact Analysis

    The NIA assesses the NES and the national NPV from a national 
perspective of total consumer costs and savings that would be expected 
to result from new or amended standards at specific efficiency 
levels.\45\ DOE calculates the NES and NPV based on projections of 
annual product shipments, along with the annual energy consumption and 
total installed cost data from the energy use and LCC analyses.\46\ For 
the present analysis, DOE projected the energy savings, operating cost 
savings, product costs, and NPV of consumer benefits over the lifetime 
of residential dishwashers sold from 2019 through 2048.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \45\ The NIA accounts for impacts in the 50 States and the U.S. 
territories.
    \46\ For the NIA, DOE adjusts the installed cost data from the 
LCC analysis to exclude sales tax, which is a transfer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE evaluates the impacts of new and amended standards by comparing 
a case without such standards with standards-case projections. The no-
new-standards

[[Page 90094]]

case characterizes energy use and consumer costs for each product class 
in the absence of new or amended energy conservation standards. For 
this projection, DOE considers historical trends in efficiency and 
various forces that are likely to affect the mix of efficiencies over 
time. DOE compares the no-new-standards case with projections 
characterizing the market for each product class if DOE adopted new or 
amended standards at specific energy efficiency levels (i.e., the TSLs 
or standards cases) for that class. For the standards cases, DOE 
considers how a given standard would likely affect the market shares of 
products with efficiencies greater than the standard.
    DOE uses a spreadsheet model to calculate the energy savings and 
the national consumer costs and savings from each TSL. Interested 
parties can review DOE's analyses by changing various input quantities 
within the spreadsheet. The NIA spreadsheet model uses typical values 
(as opposed to probability distributions) as inputs.
    Table IV.15 summarizes the inputs and methods DOE used for the NIA 
analysis for the final rule. Discussion of these inputs and methods 
follows the table. See chapter 10 of the final rule TSD for further 
details.

   Table IV.15--Summary of Inputs and Methods for the National Impact
                                Analysis
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Inputs                               Method
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shipments....................  Annual shipments from shipments model.
Compliance Date of Standard..  2019.
Efficiency Trends............  No-new-standards case: Efficiency
                                distributions are projected based on
                                historical efficiency data.
                               Standards cases: Use a ``roll-up'' and
                                shift scenario.
Annual Energy/Water            Annual weighted-average values are a
 Consumption per Unit.          function of energy/water use at each
                                TSL.
Total Installed Cost per Unit  Annual weighted-average values are a
                                function of cost at each TSL.
                               Incorporates projection of future product
                                prices based on historical data.
Annual Energy/Water Cost per   Annual weighted-average values as a
 Unit.                          function of the annual energy/water
                                consumption per unit and energy/water
                                prices.
Repair and Maintenance Cost    Annual values do not change with
 per Unit.                      efficiency level.
Energy Prices Trend..........  AEO 2016 projections (to 2040) and
                                extrapolation through 2048.
Water Prices Trend...........  Linear extrapolation of inflation-
                                adjusted historical national water price
                                index.
Energy Site-to-Primary         A time-series conversion factor based on
 Conversion.                    AEO 2016.
Discount Rate................  Three and seven percent.
Present Year.................  2016.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Product Efficiency Trends
    A key component of the NIA is the trend in energy efficiency 
projected for the no-new-standards case and each of the standards 
cases. Section IV.F.9 of this final rule describes how DOE developed an 
energy efficiency distribution for the no-new-standards case (which 
yields a shipment-weighted average efficiency) for each of the 
considered product classes for the first year of the projection period. 
To project the trend in efficiency for residential dishwashers in the 
no-new-standards case, DOE assumed that in the base case, shipment-
weighted annual energy use will decrease from 278 kWh/year in 2019 to 
275 kWh/year in 2048 for standard dishwashers. The approach is further 
described in chapter 10 of the final rule TSD.
    For the standards cases, DOE used a ``roll-up'' scenario to 
establish the shipment-weighted efficiency for the year that standards 
are assumed to become effective (2019). In this scenario, the market 
shares of products in the no-new-standards case that do not meet the 
standard under consideration would ``roll up'' to meet the new standard 
level, and the market share of products above the standard would remain 
unchanged.
    For standard dishwasher efficiency after 2019, DOE assumed an 
efficiency shift scenario in which efficiency increases until reaching 
a value of 275 kWh/year and then remaining at that level for the 
remainder of the analysis period. DOE assumed that projected 
efficiencies for the compact dishwasher product class would remain 
frozen at the 2019 efficiency level until the end of the analysis 
period.
2. National Energy and Water Savings
    The national energy and water savings analysis involves a 
comparison of national energy and water consumption of the considered 
products in each potential standards case (TSL) with consumption in the 
case with no new or amended energy conservation standards. DOE 
calculated the national energy and water consumption by multiplying the 
number of units (stock) of each product (by vintage or age) by the unit 
energy and water consumption (also by vintage). DOE calculated annual 
NES based on the difference in national energy consumption for the no-
new-standards case and for each higher efficiency standard case. DOE 
estimated energy consumption and savings based on site energy and 
converted the electricity consumption and savings to primary energy 
(i.e., the energy consumed by power plants to generate site 
electricity) using annual conversion factors derived from AEO 2016. 
Cumulative energy savings are the sum of the NES for each year over the 
timeframe of the analysis.
    In 2011, in response to the recommendations of a committee on 
``Point-of-Use and Full-Fuel-Cycle Measurement Approaches to Energy 
Efficiency Standards'' appointed by the National Academy of Sciences, 
DOE announced its intention to use FFC measures of energy use and 
greenhouse gas and other emissions in the NIA and emissions analyses 
included in future energy conservation standards rulemakings. 76 FR 
51281 (Aug. 18, 2011). After evaluating the approaches discussed in the 
August 18, 2011 notice, DOE published a statement of amended policy in 
which DOE explained its determination that EIA's National Energy 
Modeling System (NEMS) is the most appropriate tool for its FFC 
analysis and its intention to use NEMS for that purpose. 77 FR 49701 
(Aug. 17, 2012). NEMS is a public domain, multi-sector, partial 
equilibrium model of the U.S. energy sector \47\ that EIA uses to 
prepare its AEO. The approach used for deriving FFC measures of energy 
use and emissions is described in appendix 10B of the final rule TSD.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \47\ For more information on NEMS, refer to The National Energy 
Modeling System: An Overview, DOE/EIA-0581 (2009) (Oct. 2009) 
(Available at: http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/nems/overview/appendix.html).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 90095]]

3. Net Present Value Analysis
    The inputs for determining the NPV of the total costs and benefits 
experienced by consumers are: (1) Total annual installed cost; (2) 
total annual savings in operating costs; and (3) a discount factor to 
calculate the present value of costs and savings. DOE calculates net 
savings each year as the difference between the no-new-standards case 
and each standards case in terms of total savings in operating costs 
versus total increases in installed costs. DOE calculates operating 
cost savings over the lifetime of each product shipped during the 
projection period.
    As discussed in section IV.F.1 of this final rule, DOE developed 
residential dishwasher price trends based on historical PPI data. DOE 
applied the same trends to project prices for each product class at 
each considered efficiency level. By 2048, which is the end date of the 
projection period, the average residential dishwasher price is 
projected to drop 45 percent relative to 2015. DOE's projection of 
product prices is described in appendix 10C of the final rule TSD.
    To evaluate the effect of uncertainty regarding the price trend 
estimates, DOE investigated the impact of different product price 
projections on the consumer NPV for the considered TSLs for residential 
dishwashers. In addition to the default price trend, DOE considered two 
product price sensitivity cases: (1) A high price decline case based on 
an exponential fit approach using PPI data for 1991 to 2014; (2) a low 
price decline case based on an experience rate derived using PPI and 
shipments data for 2001 to 2014. The derivation of these price trends 
and the results of these sensitivity cases are described in appendix 
10C of the final rule TSD.
    The operating cost savings are equal to the energy and water cost 
savings, which are calculated using the estimated energy and water 
savings in each year and the projected price of the appropriate form of 
energy and the projected price of water. To estimate energy prices in 
future years, DOE multiplied the average regional energy prices by the 
projection of annual national-average residential energy price changes 
consistent with the projections found on page E-8 in AEO 2016,\48\ 
which has an end year of 2040. To estimate price trends after 2040, DOE 
used the average annual rate of change in prices from 2020 to 2040. 
Water prices and price trends were estimated based on the sources 
discussed in section IV.F.5. As part of the NIA, DOE also analyzed 
scenarios that used inputs from the AEO 2016 cases that have higher and 
lower energy price trends and the NIA results based on these cases are 
presented in appendix 10D of the final rule TSD.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \48\ The standards finalized in this rulemaking will take effect 
before the requirements of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) as modeled in 
the AEO 2016 reference case, putting downward pressure on 
electricity prices relative to the projections in this AEO 2016 CPP 
case. Consequently, DOE used the more conservative price projections 
found in the AEO 2016 No-CPP case.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In calculating the NPV, DOE multiplies the net savings in future 
years by a discount factor to determine their present value. For this 
final rule, DOE estimated the NPV of consumer benefits using both a 3-
percent and a 7-percent real discount rate. DOE uses these discount 
rates in accordance with guidance provided by the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) to Federal agencies on the development of regulatory 
analysis.\49\ The discount rates for the determination of NPV are in 
contrast to the discount rates used in the LCC analysis, which are 
designed to reflect a consumer's perspective. The 7-percent real value 
is an estimate of the average before-tax rate of return to private 
capital in the U.S. economy. The 3-percent real value represents the 
``social rate of time preference,'' which is the rate at which society 
discounts future consumption flows to their present value.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \49\ OMB. Circular A-4: Regulatory Analysis,'' (Sept. 17, 2003), 
section E (Available at: www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/m03-21.html).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Associations commented that the Department's own calculations 
in the ``adverse'' case scenario showed that there is a potential for a 
net loss under the Proposed Rule and would not satisfy the economic 
feasibility test required by governing law. (The Associations, No. 17 
at p. 4) DOE assumes that the term ``economic feasibility'' used by the 
Associations refers to the two measures by which a potential standard 
level is evaluated: Economic justification and technological 
feasibility. DOE further assumes that with the term ``adverse case 
scenario,'' the Associations are referring to the LCC results that show 
the impacts of the LCC analysis: The amount of LCC savings and the 
percentage of the population that experiences a net cost. DOE evaluates 
the economic justification of each TSL using efficiency levels with 
positive LCC savings as the basis for the evaluation. Efficiency levels 
with negative LCC savings are not analyzed in the NIA and are not 
considered in the development of potential standards.

I. Consumer Subgroup Analysis

    In analyzing the potential impact of new or amended standards on 
consumers, DOE evaluates the impact on identifiable subgroups of 
consumers that may be disproportionately affected by a new or amended 
national standard. DOE evaluates impacts on particular subgroups of 
consumers by analyzing the LCC impacts and PBP for those particular 
consumers from alternative standard levels. For this final rule, DOE 
analyzed the impacts of the considered standard levels on low-income 
households. Chapter 11 in the final rule TSD describes the consumer 
subgroup analysis.

J. Manufacturer Impact Analysis

1. Overview
    DOE performed an MIA to estimate the financial impacts of amended 
energy conservation standards on manufacturers of residential 
dishwashers and to estimate the potential impacts of such standards on 
employment and manufacturing capacity. The MIA has both quantitative 
and qualitative aspects and includes analyses of projected industry 
cash flows, the INPV, investments in research and development (R&D) and 
manufacturing capital, and domestic manufacturing employment. 
Additionally, the MIA seeks to determine how amended energy 
conservation standards might affect manufacturing employment, capacity, 
and competition, as well as how standards contribute to the overall 
regulatory burden on manufacturers. Finally, the MIA serves to identify 
any disproportionate impacts on manufacturer subgroups, including small 
business manufacturers.
    The quantitative part of the MIA primarily relies on the GRIM, an 
industry cash flow model with inputs specific to this rulemaking. The 
key GRIM inputs include data on the industry cost structure, unit 
production costs, product shipments, manufacturer markups, and 
investments in R&D and manufacturing capital required to produce 
compliant products. The key GRIM outputs are the INPV, which is the sum 
of industry annual cash flows over the analysis period, discounted 
using the industry-weighted average cost of capital, and the impact to 
domestic manufacturing employment. The model uses standard accounting 
principles to estimate the impacts of more-stringent energy 
conservation standards on a given industry by comparing changes in INPV 
and domestic manufacturing employment between a no-new-standards case 
and

[[Page 90096]]

the various standards cases (TSLs). To capture the uncertainty relating 
to manufacturer pricing strategies following amended standards, the 
GRIM estimates a range of possible impacts under different markup 
scenarios.
    The qualitative part of the MIA addresses manufacturer 
characteristics and market trends. Specifically, the MIA considers such 
factors as a potential standard's impact on manufacturing capacity, 
competition within the industry, the cumulative impact of other DOE and 
non-DOE regulations, and impacts on manufacturer subgroups. The 
complete MIA is outlined in chapter 12 of the final rule TSD.
    DOE conducted the MIA for this rulemaking in three phases. In Phase 
1 of the MIA, DOE prepared a profile of the residential dishwasher 
manufacturing industry based on the market and technology assessment, 
interviews conducted in support of the 2012 Direct Final Rule, and 
publicly-available information. This included an analysis of 
residential dishwasher manufacturers that DOE used to derive 
preliminary financial inputs for the GRIM (e.g., revenues; materials, 
labor, overhead, and depreciation expenses; selling, general, and 
administrative expenses (SG&A); and R&D expenses). DOE also used public 
sources of information to further calibrate its initial 
characterization of the residential dishwasher manufacturing industry, 
including company filings of form 10-K from the SEC \50\, corporate 
annual reports, the U.S. Census Bureau's Economic Census, and reports 
from Hoovers.\51\ Based on its analysis, DOE used the same industry 
average financial parameters developed in support of the 2012 Direct 
Final Rule and the 2014 NOPR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \50\ Available online at www.sec.gov.
    \51\ Available online at http://www.hoovers.com.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In Phase 2 of the MIA, DOE prepared a framework industry cash-flow 
analysis to quantify the potential impacts of amended energy 
conservation standards. The GRIM uses several factors to determine a 
series of annual cash flows starting with the announcement of the 
standard and extending over a 30-year period following the compliance 
date of the standard. These factors include annual expected revenues, 
costs of sales, SG&A and R&D expenses, taxes, and capital expenditures. 
In general, energy conservation standards can affect manufacturer cash 
flow in three distinct ways: (1) Creating a need for increased 
investment, (2) raising production costs per unit, and (3) altering 
revenue due to higher per-unit prices and changes in sales volumes. In 
performing this analysis, DOE used the financial parameters from the 
2012 residential dishwasher energy conservation standards rulemaking, 
estimates of conversion costs from both the engineering analysis 
developed for this final rule and manufacturer feedback received in 
response to the 2014 NOPR, the cost-efficiency curves from the 
engineering analysis, and the shipment assumptions from the NIA.
    In Phase 3 of the MIA, DOE evaluated subgroups of manufacturers 
that may be disproportionately impacted by amended standards or that 
may not be accurately represented by the average cost assumptions used 
to develop the industry cash flow analysis. Such manufacturer subgroups 
include small business manufacturers, if any, and may also include low-
volume manufacturers (LVMs), niche players, and/or manufacturers 
exhibiting a cost structure that largely differs from the industry 
average. DOE identified one subgroup for a separate impact analysis: 
small business manufacturers. The small business subgroup is discussed 
in section VI.B, ``Review under the Regulatory Flexibility Act'' and in 
chapter 12 of the final rule TSD.
2. Government Regulatory Impact Model and Key Inputs
    DOE uses the GRIM to quantify the changes in cash flow due to 
amended standards that result in a higher or lower industry value. The 
GRIM uses a standard, annual discounted cash-flow analysis that 
incorporates manufacturer costs, markups, shipments, and industry 
financial information as inputs. The GRIM models changes in costs, 
distribution of shipments, investments, and manufacturer margins that 
could result from an amended energy conservation standard. The GRIM 
spreadsheet uses the inputs to arrive at a series of annual cash flows, 
beginning in 2016 (the base year of the analysis), and continuing to 
2048. DOE calculated INPVs by summing the stream of annual discounted 
cash flows during this period. For manufacturers of residential 
dishwashers, DOE used a real discount rate of 8.5 percent, derived from 
industry financials.
    The GRIM calculates cash flows using standard accounting principles 
and compares changes in INPV between the no-new-standards case and each 
standards case. The difference in INPV between the no-new-standards 
case and a standards case represents the financial impact of the 
amended energy conservation standard on manufacturers. As discussed 
previously, DOE developed critical GRIM inputs using a number of 
sources, including publicly available data, results of the engineering 
analysis, and information received from industry stakeholders in 
response to the 2014 NOPR. The GRIM results are presented in section 
V.B.2 of this final rule. Additional details about the GRIM, the 
discount rate, and other financial parameters can be found in chapter 
12 of the final rule TSD.
a. Manufacturer Production Costs
    Manufacturing more efficient equipment is typically more expensive 
than manufacturing baseline equipment due to the use of more complex 
components, which are typically more costly than baseline components. 
The changes in the MPCs of residential dishwashers can affect the 
revenues, gross margins, and cash flow of the industry. DOE estimated 
the MPCs for standard and compact product classes at the baseline and 
higher efficiency levels, as described in section IV.C of this final 
rule. The cost model also disaggregated the MPCs into the cost of 
materials, labor, overhead, and depreciation. DOE used these MPCs and 
cost breakdowns for each efficiency level analyzed in the GRIM.
b. Shipments Projections
    The GRIM estimates manufacturer revenues based on total unit 
shipment projections and the distribution of those shipments by 
efficiency level and product class. Changes in sales volumes and the 
efficiency mix over time can significantly affect manufacturer 
finances. For this analysis, the GRIM uses the NIA's annual shipment 
projections derived from the shipments analysis from 2016 (the base 
year) to 2048 (the end year of the analysis period). See chapter 9 of 
the final rule TSD for additional details.
c. Product and Capital Conversion Costs
    Amended energy conservation standards could cause manufacturers to 
incur conversion costs to bring their production facilities and product 
designs into compliance. DOE evaluated the level of conversion-related 
expenditures that would be needed to comply with each considered 
efficiency level in each product class. For the MIA, DOE classified 
these conversion costs into two major groups: (1) Product conversion 
costs and (2) capital conversion costs. Product conversion costs are 
investments in research, development, testing, marketing, and other 
non-capitalized costs necessary to make product designs comply with 
amended energy conservation standards. Capital conversion costs are 
investments in property, plant, and

[[Page 90097]]

equipment necessary to adapt or change existing production facilities 
such that new compliant product designs can be fabricated and 
assembled.
    DOE developed two model scenarios to estimate the capital 
conversion costs required to meet amended energy conservation standards 
at each TSL. One scenario is based on the capital conversion costs 
developed for the analysis supporting the 2012 Direct Final Rule, 
scaled to reflect the new efficiency levels for each product class 
considered in this final rule. In a data submission to DOE following 
the publication of the 2014 NOPR, AHAM supported the use of capital 
conversion cost estimates based on those developed for the 2012 Direct 
Final Rule for some of the efficiency levels for standard dishwashers 
considered in this final rule (AHAM, No. 28 at pp. 1-2).\52\ 
Additionally, DOE developed a separate capital conversion cost scenario 
using the engineering cost model developed for this final rule. For 
this estimate, DOE identified the design pathways considered in the 
engineering analysis, estimated the cost of the changes in production 
equipment to implement each design option, and aggregated these costs 
to reflect the industry-wide investment using market information about 
the number of platform and product families currently on the market 
from each manufacturer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \52\ In its data submittal, AHAM did not support the use of 
capital conversion costs based on the 2012 Direct Final Rule for 
standard dishwashers associated with an efficiency level of 180 kWh/
year and 2.22 gallons/cycle (i.e., the 2014 NOPR max-tech efficiency 
level). For this final rule, 180 kWh/year has been eliminated as an 
analyzed efficiency level, and has been replaced by 225 kWh/year. 
Additionally, in the 2014 NOPR, Effciency Level 2 corresponded to an 
energy use of 280 kWh/year. AHAM's data submittal supported the use 
of capital conversion costs based on the 2012 Direct Final Rule for 
this level. For this final rule, Efficiency Level 2 is 270 kWh/year. 
DOE interpolated conversion costs for this level using those based 
on 2012 Direct Final Rule for NOPR Efficiency Level 2 (280 kWh/year) 
and Efficiency Level 3 (255 kWh/year).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE based product conversion costs related to amended energy 
conservation standards for dishwashers on the analysis conducted for 
the 2012 Direct Final Rule, scaled to reflect the new efficiency levels 
for each product class considered in this final rule. These product 
coversion costs were used in combination with both above-mentioned 
capital conversion costs scenarios to estimate total industry 
conversion costs under each scenario.
    In general, DOE assumes all conversion-related investments occur 
between the year of publication of the final rule and the year by which 
manufacturers must comply with the new standard. The conversion cost 
figures used in the GRIM can be found in section V.B.2 of this final 
rule. For additional information on the estimated capital and product 
conversion costs, see chapter 12 of the final rule TSD.
d. Markup Scenarios
    MSPs include direct manufacturing production costs (i.e., labor, 
materials, and overhead as estimated in DOE's MPCs) and all non-
production costs (i.e., SG&A, R&D, and interest), along with profit. To 
calculate the MSPs in the GRIM, DOE applied non-production cost markups 
to the MPCs estimated in the engineering analysis for each product 
class and efficiency level. Modifying these markups in the standards 
case yields different sets of impacts on manufacturers. For the MIA, 
DOE modeled two standards-case markup scenarios to represent 
uncertainty regarding the potential impacts on prices and profitability 
for manufacturers following the implementation of amended energy 
conservation standards: (1) A preservation of gross margin percentage 
markup scenario; and (2) a preservation of per-unit operating profit 
markup scenario. These scenarios lead to different markup values that, 
when applied to the MPCs, result in varying revenue and cash flow 
impacts.
    Under the preservation of gross margin percentage scenario, DOE 
applied a single uniform ``gross margin percentage'' markup across all 
efficiency levels, which assumes that manufacturers would be able to 
maintain the same amount of profit as a percentage of revenues at all 
efficiency levels within a product class. DOE used the baseline 
manufacturer markup, 1.24, developed for the 2012 Direct Final Rule, 
and also used in the 2014 NOPR, for all products when modeling the no-
new-standards in the GRIM. This scenario represents the upper bound of 
industry profitability as manufacturers are able to fully pass on 
additional production costs due to standards to their customers under 
this scenario.
    Under the preservation of per-unit operating profit markup 
scenario, DOE modeled a situation in which manufacturers are not able 
to increase per-unit operating profit in proportion to increases in 
manufacturer production costs. This scenario represents the lower bound 
of profitability and a more substantial impact on the residential 
dishwasher industry as manufacturers accept a lower margin in an 
attempt to offer price competitive products while maintaining the same 
level of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) they saw prior to 
amended standards.
    A comparison of industry financial impacts under the two markup 
scenarios is presented in section V.B.2.a of this final rule.
3. Discussion of Comments
    AHAM, residential dishwasher manufacturers, and other interested 
parties provided several comments on the potential impact of amended 
energy conservation standards on manufacturers.
    At the 2014 NOPR public meeting, multiple stakeholders expressed 
concern over the lack of manufacturer input and DOE's use of outdated 
information for the NOPR analysis. (AHAM, Public Meeting Transcript, 
No. 10 at pp. 22-23, 98; NRDC, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 10 at p. 
85; BSH, Public Meeting Transcript, No. 10 at pp. 95-96; Whirlpool, 
Public Meeting Transcript, No. 10 at pp. 103-104)
    DOE recognizes the importance of interviews with manufacturers, as 
interviews provide critical data for the analysis of the impacts of 
potential energy conservation standards. Following the 2014 NOPR public 
meeting, site visits were conducted with six residential dishwasher 
manufacturers. Feedback received during these interviews and through 
public comments has been integrated into the analysis for this final 
rule.
    Regarding DOE's treatment of the cumulative effect of regulatory 
burdens on residential dishwasher manufacturers, AHAM commented that 
there has been an increase in DOE's energy efficiency regulatory 
actions in recent years. According to AHAM, although DOE does attempt 
to quantify regulatory burden in its analysis, it does not adequately 
consider the resources and time required to both support DOE with test 
data and to comply with standards. (AHAM, No. 21 at p. 17)
    DOE analyzes cumulative regulatory burdens as part of the MIA. The 
results of the cumulative regulatory burden analysis on residential 
dishwasher manufacturers are located in section V.B.2 of this final 
rule and chapter 12 of the final rule TSD. Additionally, DOE integrates 
recertification costs associated with industry (third-party) standards 
compliance that result from amended DOE standards in estimates of 
industry product conversion costs. Information on product conversion 
costs can be found in section IV.J.2 of this final rule and chapter 12 
of the final rule TSD.
    AHAM commented that, in the case of this residential dishwasher 
rulemaking, the implementation is intended to be at the minimum time 
between rulemakings allowed by law. AHAM stated that it is

[[Page 90098]]

clear from interviews with manufacturers that the cycle time is too 
short for a full recovery of investments, and that DOE should 
reconsider the structure of the GRIM to account for future rulemakings 
and their effects on industry value. (AHAM, No. 21 at p. 17)
    In this final rule, DOE is not adopting amended energy conservation 
standards for residential dishwashers. DOE will conduct a future energy 
conservation standards rulemaking for residential dishwashers pursuant 
to 42 U.S.C. 6295(m)(3)(B), which requires that within 3 years of 
issuing any final determination that existing standards do not need to 
be amended, DOE shall publish either a notice of determination that 
amended standards are not needed or a NOPR including new proposed 
standards. Because it is not known at this time whether DOE will 
determine in a future rulemaking cycle that it is technologically 
feasible and economically justified to amend residential dishwashers 
standards (and if so, to what levels), DOE does not account for future 
potential amended standards in the GRIM.
    Related to the impacts of amended energy conservation standards on 
industry profitability, AHAM commented that manufacturers will likely 
need to divert resources ordinarily used for product innovation to 
standards compliance. Due to minimal consumer payback, AHAM stated that 
the investments put towards standards compliance will not drive 
additional purchases, whereas innovation in other areas may have. 
(AHAM, No. 21 at p. 17)
    The effects of investments such as R&D and capital expenditures on 
manufacturer cash flows due to potential amended residential dishwasher 
standards are discussed further in section V.B.2.a of this final rule.
    AHAM and GE provided comments related to the magnitude of industry 
conversion costs that would be required for manufacturers of standard 
residential dishwashers to meet an efficiency level of 234 kWh/year 
(Efficiency Level 3 in the 2014 NOPR analysis). According to AHAM, a 
conservative estimate for industry conversion costs to reach 234 kWh/
year for standard residential dishwashers is $500 million rather than 
the $250 million estimated by DOE. (AHAM, No. 21 at p. 15) GE agreed 
with this estimate and further stated that, at an efficiency level of 
234 kWh/year, manufacturers wishing to preserve platforms that are 
priced at less than $500 would be forced to trade off consumer utility, 
which would increase the share of the market for other higher price 
point dishwashers, creating a negative consumer payback. (GE, No. 26 at 
p. 5)
    Following the 2014 NOPR comment period, AHAM submitted additional 
data related to industry conversion costs. In its submittal, AHAM 
stated that the 2014 NOPR estimates for industry conversion costs based 
on the 2012 Direct Final Rule are approximately correct for Efficiency 
Level 1 (295 kWh/year) and Efficiency Level 2 (280 kWh/year).\53\ 
According to AHAM, however, the cost previously projected for the 
efficiency level corresponding to 234 kWh/year for standard residential 
diswashers is appropriate for an alternate efficiency level of 255 kWh/
year and 3.1 gallons per cycle, and the estimate for the NOPR 
efficiency level corresponding to 180 kWh/year is approximately correct 
for an efficiency level corresponding to 234 kWh/year. AHAM further 
commented that manufacturers do not believe 180 kWh/year and 2.22 
gallons per cycle is practical and that they have no estimates on the 
costs to achieve it. (AHAM, No. 28 at pp. 1-2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \53\ In the 2014 NOPR, Effciency Level 2 corresponded to an 
energy use of 280 kwh/year. For this final rule, Efficiency Level 2 
is 270 kwh/year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE appreciates the additional feedback provided by AHAM and 
residential dishwasher manufacturers relating to the magnitude of 
conversion costs that will be required to reach different standard 
levels. Based on this and other feedback relating to the efficiency 
levels analyzed in the 2014 NOPR, DOE has reevaluated its standards-
case efficiency levels. Industry's feedback on conversion costs has 
been incorporated into DOE's new estimates of industry conversion costs 
for this final rule analysis. Section IV.J.2.c and section V.B.2 of 
this final rule provide information about DOE's estimates of industry 
conversion costs resulting from potential amended standards for 
residential dishwashers. Additional information is included in chapter 
12 of the final rule TSD.
4. Manufacturer Interviews
    As noted in section IV.J.3 of this final rule, DOE relies on 
manufacturer interviews to provide critical data for the analyzing the 
impacts of potential amended energy conservation standards. Following 
the 2014 NOPR public meeting, discussions were held with six 
residential dishwasher manufacturers. The key issues discussed during 
these interviews were: (1) Consumer utility concerns at the standard 
levels proposed in the 2014 NOPR, and (2) the engineering cost 
estimates that fed into the 2014 NOPR analysis. These key issues were 
also raised in public comments from interested parties in response to 
the 2014 NOPR. Section IV.C.1.b and section IV.C.2 of this final rule 
provide additional discussion describing these key issues and how DOE 
has addressed them in this final rule analysis.

K. Emissions Analysis

    The emissions analysis consists of two components. The first 
component estimates the effect of potential energy conservation 
standards on power sector and site (where applicable) combustion 
emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides 
(NOX), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and mercury (Hg). 
The second component estimates the impacts of potential standards on 
emissions of two additional greenhouse gases, methane (CH4) 
and nitrous oxide (N2O), as well as the reductions to 
emissions of all species due to ``upstream'' activities in the fuel 
production chain. These upstream activities comprise extraction, 
processing, and transporting fuels to the site of combustion. The 
associated emissions are referred to as upstream emissions.
    The analysis of power sector emissions uses marginal emissions 
factors derived from data in AEO 2016, as described in section IV.M of 
this final rule. Details of the methodology are described in the 
appendices to chapters 13 and 15 of the final rule TSD.
    Combustion emissions of CH4 and N2O are 
estimated using emissions intensity factors published by the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)--Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions 
Factors Hub.\54\ The FFC upstream emissions are estimated based on the 
methodology described in chapter 15 of the final rule TSD. The upstream 
emissions include both emissions from fuel combustion during 
extraction, processing, and transportation of fuel, and ``fugitive'' 
emissions (direct leakage to the atmosphere) of CH4 and 
CO2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \54\ Available at: www2.epa.gov/climateleadership/center-corporate-climate-leadership-ghg-emission-factors-hub.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The emissions intensity factors are expressed in terms of physical 
units per MWh or MMBtu of site energy savings. Total emissions 
reductions are estimated using the energy savings calculated in the 
national impact analysis.
    For CH4 and N2O, DOE calculated emissions 
reduction in tons and also in terms of units of carbon dioxide 
equivalent (CO2eq). Gases are converted to CO2eq 
by multiplying each ton of gas

[[Page 90099]]

by the gas' global warming potential (GWP) over a 100-year time 
horizon. Based on the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental 
Panel on Climate Change,\55\ DOE used GWP values of 28 for 
CH4 and 265 for N2O.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \55\ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Anthropogenic 
and Natural Radiative Forcing. In Climate Change 2013: The Physical 
Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth 
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 
Chapter 8. 2013. Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, 
S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex, and P.M. 
Midgley, Editors. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United 
Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Because the on-site operation of gas-fired and oil-fired water 
heaters that provide hot water to residential dishwashers requires 
combustion of fossil fuels and results in emissions of CO2, 
NOX, and SO2 at the sites where these appliances 
are used, DOE also accounted for the reduction in these site emissions 
and the associated upstream emissions due to potential standards. Site 
emissions of the above gases were estimated using emissions intensity 
factors from an EPA publication.\56\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \56\ EPA. External Combustion Sources. In Compilation of Air 
Pollutant Emission Factors. AP-42. Fifth Edition. Volume I: 
Stationary Point and Area Sources. Chapter 1. Available at https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-factors-and-quantification/ap-42-compilation-air-emission-factors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The AEO incorporates the projected impacts of existing air quality 
regulations on emissions. AEO 2016 generally represents current 
legislation and environmental regulations, including recent government 
actions, for which implementing regulations were available as of the 
end of February 2016. DOE's estimation of impacts accounts for the 
presence of the emissions control programs discussed in the following 
paragraphs.
    SO2 emissions from affected electric generating units 
(EGUs) are subject to nationwide and regional emissions cap-and-trade 
programs. Title IV of the Clean Air Act sets an annual emissions cap on 
SO2 for affected EGUs in the 48 contiguous States and the 
District of Columbia (DC). (42 U.S.C. 7651 et seq.) SO2 
emissions from 28 eastern States and DC were also limited under the 
Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). 70 FR 25162 (May 12, 2005). CAIR 
created an allowance-based trading program that operates along with the 
Title IV program. In 2008, CAIR was remanded to EPA by the U.S. Court 
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but it remained in 
effect.\57\ In 2011, EPA issued a replacement for CAIR, the Cross-State 
Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). 76 FR 48208 (Aug. 8, 2011). On August 21, 
2012, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision to vacate CSAPR,\58\ and the 
court ordered EPA to continue administering CAIR. On April 29, 2014, 
the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the D.C. Circuit and 
remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme 
Court's opinion.\59\ On October 23, 2014, the D.C. Circuit lifted the 
stay of CSAPR.\60\ Pursuant to this action, CSAPR went into effect (and 
CAIR ceased to be in effect) as of January 1, 2015.\61\ AEO 2016 
incorporates implementation of CSAPR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \57\ See North Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 896 (D.C. Cir. 2008), 
modified on rehearing, 550 F.3d 1176 (D.C. Cir. 2008).
    \58\ See EME Homer City Generation, LP v. EPA, 696 F.3d 7, 38 
(D.C. Cir. 2012).
    \59\ See EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. 134 S.Ct. 1584, 
1610 (U.S. 2014). The Supreme Court held in part that EPA's 
methodology for quantifying emissions that must be eliminated in 
certain States due to their impacts in other downwind States was 
based on a permissible, workable, and equitable interpretation of 
the Clean Air Act provision that provides statutory authority for 
CSAPR.
    \60\ See EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, Order (D.C. 
Cir. filed October 23, 2014) (No. 11-1302).
    \61\ On July 28, 2015, the D.C. Circuit issued its opinion 
regarding the remaining issues raised with respect to CSAPR that 
were remanded by the Supreme Court. The D.C. Circuit largely upheld 
CSAPR but remanded to EPA without vacatur certain States' emission 
budgets for reconsideration. EME Homer City Generation, LP v. EPA, 
795 F.3d 118 (D.C. Cir. 2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The attainment of emissions caps is typically flexible among EGUs 
and is enforced through the use of emissions allowances and tradable 
permits. Under existing EPA regulations, any excess SO2 
emissions allowances resulting from the lower electricity demand caused 
by the adoption of an efficiency standard could be used to permit 
offsetting increases in SO2 emissions by any regulated EGU. 
In past rulemakings, DOE recognized that there was uncertainty about 
the effects of efficiency standards on SO2 emissions covered 
by the existing cap-and-trade system, but it concluded that negligible 
reductions in power sector SO2 emissions would occur as a 
result of standards.
    Beginning in 2016, however, SO2 emissions will fall as a 
result of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants. 
77 FR 9304 (Feb. 16, 2012). In the MATS final rule, EPA established a 
standard for hydrogen chloride as a surrogate for acid gas hazardous 
air pollutants (HAP), and also established a standard for 
SO2 (a non-HAP acid gas) as an alternative equivalent 
surrogate standard for acid gas HAP. The same controls are used to 
reduce HAP and non-HAP acid gas; thus, SO2 emissions will be 
reduced as a result of the control technologies installed on coal-fired 
power plants to comply with the MATS requirements for acid gas. AEO 
2016 assumes that, in order to continue operating, coal plants must 
have either flue gas desulfurization or dry sorbent injection systems 
installed by 2016. Both technologies, which are used to reduce acid gas 
emissions, also reduce SO2 emissions. Under the MATS, 
emissions will be far below the cap established by CSAPR, so it is 
unlikely that excess SO2 emissions allowances resulting from 
the lower electricity demand would be needed or used to permit 
offsetting increases in SO2 emissions by any regulated EGU. 
\62\ Therefore, DOE believes that energy conservation standards that 
decrease electricity generation will generally reduce SO2 
emissions in 2016 and beyond.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \62\ DOE notes that on June 29, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court 
ruled that the EPA erred when the agency concluded that cost did not 
need to be considered in the finding that regulation of hazardous 
air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam 
generating units (EGUs) is appropriate and necessary under section 
112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Michigan v. EPA, 135 S. Ct. 2699 
(2015). The Supreme Court did not vacate the MATS rule, and DOE has 
tentatively determined that the Court's decision on the MATS rule 
does not change the assumptions regarding the impact of energy 
conservation standards on SO2 emissions. Further, the 
Court's decision does not change the impact of the energy 
conservation standards on mercury emissions. The EPA, in response to 
the U.S. Supreme Court's direction, has now considered cost in 
evaluating whether it is appropriate and necessary to regulate coal- 
and oil-fired EGUs under the CAA. EPA concluded in its final 
supplemental finding that a consideration of cost does not alter the 
EPA's previous determination that regulation of hazardous air 
pollutants, including mercury, from coal- and oil-fired EGUs, is 
appropriate and necessary. 79 FR 24420 (April 25, 2016). The MATS 
rule remains in effect, but litigation is pending in the D.C. 
Circuit Court of Appeals over EPA's final supplemental finding MATS 
rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CSAPR established a cap on NOX emissions in 28 eastern 
States and the District of Columbia.\63\ Energy conservation standards 
are expected to have little effect on NOX emissions in those 
States covered by CSAPR because excess NOX emissions 
allowances resulting from the lower electricity demand could be used to 
permit offsetting increases in NOX emissions from other 
facilities. However, standards would be expected to reduce 
NOX emissions in the States not affected by the caps, so DOE 
estimated NOX emissions reductions from the standards 
considered in this final rule for these States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \63\ CSAPR also applies to NOX and it supersedes the 
regulation of NOX under CAIR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The MATS limit mercury emissions from power plants, but they do not 
include emissions caps and, as such, DOE's energy conservation 
standards would likely reduce Hg emissions. DOE

[[Page 90100]]

estimated mercury emissions reduction using emissions factors based on 
AEO 2016, which incorporates the MATS.

L. Monetizing Carbon Dioxide and Other Emissions Impacts

    As part of the development of this final rule, DOE considered the 
estimated monetary benefits from the reduced emissions of 
CO2 and NOX that are expected to result from each 
of the TSLs considered. To make this calculation analogous to the 
calculation of the NPV of consumer benefit, DOE considered the reduced 
emissions expected to result over the lifetime of products shipped in 
the projection period for each TSL. This section summarizes the basis 
for the monetary values used for CO2 and NOX 
emissions and presents the values considered in this analysis.
1. Social Cost of Carbon
    The social cost of carbon (SCC) is an estimate of the monetized 
damages associated with an incremental increase in carbon emissions in 
a given year. It is intended to include (but is not limited to) 
climate-change-related changes in net agricultural productivity, human 
health, property damages from increased flood risk, and the value of 
ecosystem services. Estimates of the SCC are provided in dollars per 
metric ton of CO2. A domestic SCC value is meant to reflect 
the value of damages in the United States resulting from a unit change 
in CO2 emissions, while a global SCC value is meant to 
reflect the value of damages worldwide.
    Under section 1(b) of Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning 
and Review,'' 58 FR 51735 (Oct. 4, 1993), agencies must, to the extent 
permitted by law, ``assess both the costs and the benefits of the 
intended regulation and, recognizing that some costs and benefits are 
difficult to quantify, propose or adopt a regulation only upon a 
reasoned determination that the benefits of the intended regulation 
justify its costs.'' The purpose of the SCC estimates presented here is 
to allow agencies to incorporate the monetized social benefits of 
reducing CO2 emissions into cost-benefit analyses of 
regulatory actions. The estimates are presented with an acknowledgement 
of the many uncertainties involved and with a clear understanding that 
they should be updated over time to reflect increasing knowledge of the 
science and economics of climate impacts.
    As part of the interagency process that developed these SCC 
estimates, technical experts from numerous agencies met on a regular 
basis to consider public comments, explore the technical literature in 
relevant fields, and discuss key model inputs and assumptions. The main 
objective of this process was to develop a range of SCC values using a 
defensible set of input assumptions grounded in the existing scientific 
and economic literatures. In this way, key uncertainties and model 
differences transparently and consistently inform the range of SCC 
estimates used in the rulemaking process.
a. Monetizing Carbon Dioxide Emissions
    When attempting to assess the incremental economic impacts of 
CO2 emissions, the analyst faces a number of challenges. A 
report from the National Research Council \64\ points out that any 
assessment will suffer from uncertainty, speculation, and lack of 
information about: (1) Future emissions of GHGs, (2) the effects of 
past and future emissions on the climate system, (3) the impact of 
changes in climate on the physical and biological environment, and (4) 
the translation of these environmental impacts into economic damages. 
As a result, any effort to quantify and monetize the harms associated 
with climate change will raise questions of science, economics, and 
ethics and should be viewed as provisional.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \64\ National Research Council. Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced 
Consequences of Energy Production and Use. 2009. National Academies 
Press: Washington, DC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Despite the limits of both quantification and monetization, SCC 
estimates can be useful in estimating the social benefits of reducing 
CO2 emissions. The agency can estimate the benefits from 
reduced (or costs from increased) emissions in any future year by 
multiplying the change in emissions in that year by the SCC values 
appropriate for that year. The NPV of the benefits can then be 
calculated by multiplying each of these future benefits by an 
appropriate discount factor and summing across all affected years.
    It is important to emphasize that the interagency process is 
committed to updating these estimates as the science and economic 
understanding of climate change and its impacts on society improves 
over time. In the meantime, the interagency group will continue to 
explore the issues raised by this analysis and consider public comments 
as part of the ongoing interagency process.
b. Development of Social Cost of Carbon Values
    In 2009, an interagency process was initiated to offer a 
preliminary assessment of how best to quantify the benefits from 
reducing carbon dioxide emissions. To ensure consistency in how 
benefits are evaluated across Federal agencies, the Administration 
sought to develop a transparent and defensible method, specifically 
designed for the rulemaking process, to quantify avoided climate change 
damages from reduced CO2 emissions. The interagency group 
did not undertake any original analysis. Instead, it combined SCC 
estimates from the existing literature to use as interim values until a 
more comprehensive analysis could be conducted. The outcome of the 
preliminary assessment by the interagency group was a set of five 
interim values: Global SCC estimates for 2007 (in 2006$) of $55, $33, 
$19, $10, and $5 per metric ton of CO2. These interim values 
represented the first sustained interagency effort within the U.S. 
government to develop an SCC for use in regulatory analysis. The 
results of this preliminary effort were presented in several proposed 
and final rules.
c. Current Approach and Key Assumptions
    After the release of the interim values, the interagency group 
reconvened on a regular basis to generate improved SCC estimates. 
Specially, the group considered public comments and further explored 
the technical literature in relevant fields. The interagency group 
relied on three integrated assessment models commonly used to estimate 
the SCC: The FUND, DICE, and PAGE models. These models are frequently 
cited in the peer-reviewed literature and were used in the last 
assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 
Each model was given equal weight in the SCC values that were 
developed.
    Each model takes a slightly different approach to model how changes 
in emissions result in changes in economic damages. A key objective of 
the interagency process was to enable a consistent exploration of the 
three models, while respecting the different approaches to quantifying 
damages taken by the key modelers in the field. An extensive review of 
the literature was conducted to select three sets of input parameters 
for these models: Climate sensitivity, socio-economic and emissions 
trajectories, and discount rates. A probability distribution for 
climate sensitivity was specified as an input into all three models. In 
addition, the interagency group used a range of scenarios for the 
socio-economic parameters and a range of values for the discount rate. 
All other model features were left unchanged, relying on the model 
developers' best estimates and judgments.

[[Page 90101]]

    In 2010, the interagency group selected four sets of SCC values for 
use in regulatory analyses. Three sets of values are based on the 
average SCC from the three integrated assessment models, at discount 
rates of 2.5, 3, and 5 percent. The fourth set, which represents the 
95th percentile SCC estimate across all three models at a 3-percent 
discount rate, was included to represent higher-than-expected impacts 
from climate change further out in the tails of the SCC distribution. 
The values grow in real terms over time. Additionally, the interagency 
group determined that a range of values from 7 percent to 23 percent 
should be used to adjust the global SCC to calculate domestic 
effects,\65\ although preference is given to consideration of the 
global benefits of reducing CO2 emissions. Table IV.16 
presents the values in the 2010 interagency group report,\66\ which is 
reproduced in appendix 14A of the final rule TSD.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \65\ It is recognized that this calculation for domestic values 
is approximate, provisional, and highly speculative. There is no a 
priori reason why domestic benefits should be a constant fraction of 
net global damages over time.
    \66\ United States Government-Interagency Working Group on 
Social Cost of Carbon. Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact 
Analysis Under Executive Order 12866. February 2010. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/for-agencies/Social-Cost-of-Carbon-for-RIA.pdf.

                     Table IV.16--Annual SCC Values From 2010 Interagency Report, 2010-2050
                                           [2007$ per metric ton CO2]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                          Discount rate
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                      Year                             5%              3%             2.5%              3%
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Average         Average         Average     95th percentile
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010...........................................             4.7            21.4            35.1             64.9
2015...........................................             5.7            23.8            38.4             72.8
2020...........................................             6.8            26.3            41.7             80.7
2025...........................................             8.2            29.6            45.9             90.4
2030...........................................             9.7            32.8            50.0            100.0
2035...........................................            11.2            36.0            54.2            109.7
2040...........................................            12.7            39.2            58.4            119.3
2045...........................................            14.2            42.1            61.7            127.8
2050...........................................            15.7            44.9            65.0            136.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The SCC values used for this document were generated using the most 
recent versions of the three integrated assessment models that have 
been published in the peer-reviewed literature, as described in the 
2013 update from the interagency working group (revised July 2015).\67\ 
Table IV.17 shows the updated sets of SCC estimates from the latest 
interagency update in 5-year increments from 2010 through 2050. The 
full set of annual SCC estimates from 2010 through 2050 is reported in 
appendix 14B of the final rule TSD. The central value that emerges is 
the average SCC across models at the 3-percent discount rate. However, 
for purposes of capturing the uncertainties involved in regulatory 
impact analysis, the interagency group emphasizes the importance of 
including all four sets of SCC values.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \67\ United States Government-Interagency Working Group on 
Social Cost of Carbon. Technical Support Document: Technical Update 
of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under 
Executive Order 12866. May 2013. Revised July 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/scc-tsd-final-july-2015.pdf.

           Table IV.17--Annual SCC Values From 2013 Interagency Update (Revised July 2015), 2010-2050
                                           [2007$ per metric ton CO2]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                          Discount rate
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                      Year                             5%              3%             2.5%              3%
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Average         Average         Average     95th percentile
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010...........................................              10              31              50               86
2015...........................................              11              36              56              105
2020...........................................              12              42              62              123
2025...........................................              14              46              68              138
2030...........................................              16              50              73              152
2035...........................................              18              55              78              168
2040...........................................              21              60              84              183
2045...........................................              23              64              89              197
2050...........................................              26              69              95              212
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It is important to recognize that a number of key uncertainties 
remain, and that current SCC estimates should be treated as provisional 
and revisable because they will evolve with improved scientific and 
economic understanding. The interagency group also recognizes that the 
existing models are imperfect and incomplete. The National Research 
Council report mentioned previously points out that there is tension 
between the goal of producing quantified estimates of the economic 
damages from an incremental ton of carbon and the limits of existing 
efforts to model these

[[Page 90102]]

effects. There are a number of analytical challenges that are being 
addressed by the research community, including research programs housed 
in many of the Federal agencies participating in the interagency 
process to estimate the SCC. The interagency group intends to 
periodically review and reconsider those estimates to reflect 
increasing knowledge of the science and economics of climate impacts, 
as well as improvements in modeling.\68\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \68\ In November 2013, OMB announced a new opportunity for 
public comment on the interagency technical support document 
underlying the revised SCC estimates. 78 FR 70586. In July 2015 OMB 
published a detailed summary and formal response to the many 
comments that were received: this is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/07/02/estimating-benefits-carbon-dioxide-emissions-reductions. It also stated its intention to seek 
independent expert advice on opportunities to improve the estimates, 
including many of the approaches suggested by commenters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In summary, in considering the potential global benefits resulting 
from reduced CO2 emissions, DOE used the values from the 
2013 interagency report (revised July 2015) adjusted to 2015$ using the 
implicit price deflator for GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. 
For each of the four sets of SCC cases specified, the values for 
emissions in 2015 were $12.4, $40.6, $63.2, and $118 per metric ton 
avoided (values expressed in 2015$). DOE derived values after 2050 
based on the trend in 2010-2050 in each of the four cases in the 
interagency update.
    DOE multiplied the CO2 emissions reduction estimated for 
each year by the SCC value for that year in each of the four cases. To 
calculate a present value of the stream of monetary values, DOE 
discounted the values in each of the four cases using the specific 
discount rate that had been used to obtain the SCC values in each case.
    Mercatus Center and The Associations criticized DOE's use and 
application of SCC estimates. Mercatus Center stated that the SCC 
estimates are experimental and tentative, and not necessarily a valid 
guide for policy decisions; and the NOPR calculations overstate the net 
benefits for Americans by counting worldwide benefits. Mercatus Center 
added that in many of the NOPR calculations, the SCC estimates are the 
difference between positive and negative benefit-cost figures. The 
Associations objected to DOE's continued use of the SCC in the cost-
benefit analysis and stated that the SCC calculation should not be used 
in any rulemaking until it undergoes a more rigorous notice, review, 
and comment process. (Mercatus Center, No. 11 at p. 8-9, The 
Associations, No. 17 at p. 3)
    In conducting the interagency process that developed the SCC 
values, technical experts from numerous agencies met on a regular basis 
to consider public comments, explore the technical literature in 
relevant fields, and discuss key model inputs and assumptions. Key 
uncertainties and model differences transparently and consistently 
inform the range of SCC estimates. However, the three integrated 
assessment models used to estimate the SCC are frequently cited in the 
peer-reviewed literature and were used in the last assessment of the 
IPCC. In addition, new versions of the models that were used to 
estimate revised SCC values in this final rule were published in peer-
reviewed literature (see appendix 14B of the final rule TSD for 
discussion). Although uncertainties remain, the revised estimates used 
in this final rule are based on the best available scientific 
information on the impacts of climate change. The current estimates of 
the SCC have been developed over many years, using the best science 
available, and with input from the public.
    DOE's analysis estimates both global and domestic benefits of 
CO2 emissions reductions. Following the recommendation of 
the interagency working group, the 2014 NOPR and this final rule focus 
on a global measure of SCC. As discussed in appendix 14A of the final 
rule TSD, the climate change problem is highly unusual in at least two 
respects. First, it involves a global externality: Emissions of most 
GHGs contribute to damages around the world even when they are emitted 
in the United States. Consequently, to address the global nature of the 
problem, the SCC must incorporate the full (global) damages caused by 
GHG emissions. Second, climate change presents a problem that the 
United States alone cannot solve. Even if the United States were to 
reduce its GHG emissions to zero, that step would be far from enough to 
avoid substantial climate change. Other countries would also need to 
take action to reduce emissions if significant changes in the global 
climate are to be avoided. Emphasizing the need for a global solution 
to a global problem, the United States has been actively involved in 
seeking international agreements to reduce emissions and in encouraging 
other nations, including emerging major economies, to take significant 
steps to reduce emissions. When these considerations are taken as a 
whole, the interagency group concluded that a global measure of the 
benefits from reducing U.S. emissions is preferable. DOE's approach is 
consistent with the requirement to weigh the need for national energy 
conservation, as one of the main reasons for national energy 
conservation is to contribute to efforts to mitigate the effects of 
global climate change.
    With respect to the comment that the SCC benefits are the 
difference between positive and negative benefit-cost figures, all of 
the TSLs considered in this rule have a positive NPV of consumer 
benefits (i.e., without considering the value of emissions reduction).
2. Social Cost of Other Air Pollutants
    As noted previously, DOE has estimated how the considered energy 
conservation standards would reduce site NOX emissions 
nationwide and decrease power sector NOX emissions in those 
22 States not affected by the CSAPR.
    DOE estimated the monetized value of NOX emissions 
reductions electricity generation using benefit per ton estimates from 
the Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Clean Power Plan Final Rule, 
published in August 2015 by EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards.\69\ The report includes high and low values for 
NOX (as PM2.5) for 2020, 2025, and 2030 using 
discount rates of 3 percent and 7 percent; these values are presented 
in appendix 14C of the final rule TSD. DOE primarily relied on the low 
estimates to be conservative.\70\ DOE developed values specific to the 
end-use category for residential dishwashers using a method described 
in appendix 14C of the final rule TSD. For this analysis DOE used 
linear interpolation to define values for the years between 2020 and 
2025 and between 2025 and 2030; for years beyond 2030 the value is held 
constant.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \69\ Available at www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-final-rule-regulatory-impact-analysis. See Tables 4A-3, 4A-4, and 
4A-5 in the report. The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed the rule 
implementing the Clean Power Plan until the current litigation 
against it concludes. Chamber of Commerce, et al. v. EPA, et al., 
Order in Pending Case, 577 U.S. (2016). However, the benefit-per-ton 
estimates established in the Regulatory Impact Analysis for the 
Clean Power Plan are based on scientific studies that remain valid 
irrespective of the legal status of the Clean Power Plan.
    \70\ For the monetized NOX benefits associated with 
PM2.5, the related benefits are primarily based on an 
estimate of premature mortality derived from the ACS study (Krewski 
et al. 2009), which is the lower of the two EPA central tendencies. 
Using the lower value is more conservative when making the policy 
decision concerning whether a particular standard level is 
economically justified. If the benefit-per-ton estimates were based 
on the Six Cities study (Lepuele et al. 2012), the values would be 
nearly two-and-a-half times larger. (See chapter 14 of the final 
rule TSD for citations for the studies mentioned above.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE estimated the monetized value of NOX emissions 
reductions from gas-fired water heaters using benefit per ton

[[Page 90103]]

estimates from the EPA's ``Technical Support Document Estimating the 
Benefit per Ton of Reducing PM2.5 Precursors from 17 
Sectors.'' \71\ Although none of the sectors refers specifically to 
residential and commercial buildings, DOE believes that the sector 
called ``Area sources'' would be a reasonable proxy for residential and 
commercial buildings. ``Area sources'' represents all emission sources 
for which states do not have exact (point) locations in their emissions 
inventories. Since exact locations would tend to be associated with 
larger sources, ``area sources'' would be fairly representative of 
small dispersed sources like homes and businesses. The EPA Technical 
Support Document provides high and low estimates for 2016, 2020, 2025, 
and 2030 at 3- and 7-percent discount rates. As with the benefit per 
ton estimates for NOX emissions reductions from electricity 
generation, DOE primarily relied on the low estimates to be 
conservative.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \71\ www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-10/documents/sourceapportionmentbpttsd.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE multiplied the emissions reduction (in tons) in each year by 
the associated $/ton values, and then discounted each series using 
discount rates of 3 percent and 7 percent as appropriate.
    DOE is evaluating appropriate monetization of reduction in other 
emissions in energy conservation standards rulemakings. DOE has not 
included monetization of those emissions in the current analysis.

M. Utility Impact Analysis

    The utility impact analysis estimates several effects on the 
electric power generation industry that would result from the adoption 
of new or amended energy conservation standards. The utility impact 
analysis estimates the changes in installed electrical capacity and 
generation that would result for each TSL. The analysis is based on 
published output from the NEMS associated with AEO 2016. NEMS produces 
the AEO Reference case, as well as a number of side cases that estimate 
the economy-wide impacts of changes to energy supply and demand. For 
the current analysis, impacts are quantified by comparing the levels of 
electricity sector generation, installed capacity, fuel consumption and 
emissions consistent with the projection described on page E-8 of AEO 
2016 and various side cases. Details of the methodology are provided in 
the appendices to chapters 13 and 15 of the final rule TSD.
    The output of this analysis is a set of time-dependent coefficients 
that capture the change in electricity generation, primary fuel 
consumption, installed capacity and power sector emissions due to a 
unit reduction in demand for a given end use. These coefficients are 
multiplied by the stream of electricity savings calculated in the NIA 
to provide estimates of selected utility impacts of new or amended 
energy conservation standards.

N. Employment Impact Analysis

    DOE considers employment impacts in the domestic economy as one 
factor in selecting a standard. Employment impacts from new or amended 
energy conservation standards include both direct and indirect impacts. 
Direct employment impacts are any changes in the number of employees of 
manufacturers of the products subject to standards, their suppliers, 
and related service firms. The MIA addresses those impacts. Indirect 
employment impacts are changes in national employment that occur due to 
the shift in expenditures and capital investment caused by the purchase 
and operation of more-efficient appliances. Indirect employment impacts 
from standards consist of the net jobs created or eliminated in the 
national economy, other than in the manufacturing sector being 
regulated, caused by: (1) Reduced spending by consumers on energy, (2) 
reduced spending on new energy supply by the utility industry, (3) 
increased consumer spending on the products to which the new standards 
apply and other goods and services, and (4) the effects of those three 
factors throughout the economy.
    One method for assessing the possible effects on the demand for 
labor of such shifts in economic activity is to compare sector 
employment statistics developed by the Labor Department's BLS. BLS 
regularly publishes its estimates of the number of jobs per million 
dollars of economic activity in different sectors of the economy, as 
well as the jobs created elsewhere in the economy by this same economic 
activity. Data from BLS indicate that expenditures in the utility 
sector generally create fewer jobs (both directly and indirectly) than 
expenditures in other sectors of the economy.\72\ There are many 
reasons for these differences, including wage differences and the fact 
that the utility sector is more capital-intensive and less labor-
intensive than other sectors. Energy conservation standards have the 
effect of reducing consumer utility bills. Because reduced consumer 
expenditures for energy likely lead to increased expenditures in other 
sectors of the economy, the general effect of efficiency standards is 
to shift economic activity from a less labor-intensive sector (i.e., 
the utility sector) to more labor-intensive sectors (e.g., the retail 
and service sectors). Thus, the BLS data suggest that net national 
employment may increase due to shifts in economic activity resulting 
from energy conservation standards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \72\ See U.S. Department of Commerce-Bureau of Economic 
Analysis. Regional Multipliers: A User Handbook for the Regional 
Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II). 1997. U.S. Government 
Printing Office: Washington, DC. Available at http://www.bea.gov/scb/pdf/regional/perinc/meth/rims2.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE estimated indirect national employment impacts for the standard 
levels considered in this final rule using an input/output model of the 
U.S. economy called Impact of Sector Energy Technologies version 4 
(ImSET).\73\ ImSET is a special-purpose version of the ``U.S. Benchmark 
National Input-Output'' (I-O) model, which was designed to estimate the 
national employment and income effects of energy-saving technologies. 
The ImSET software includes a computer-based I-O model having 
structural coefficients that characterize economic flows among 187 
sectors most relevant to industrial, commercial, and residential 
building energy use.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \73\ Livingston, O. V., S. R. Bender, M. J. Scott, and R. W. 
Schultz. ImSET 4.0: Impact of Sector Energy Technologies Model 
Description and User's Guide. 2015. Pacific Northwest National 
Laboratory: Richland, WA. PNNL-24563.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE notes that ImSET is not a general equilibrium forecasting 
model, and understands the uncertainties involved in projecting 
employment impacts, especially changes in the later years of the 
analysis. Because ImSET does not incorporate price changes, the 
employment effects predicted by ImSET may over-estimate actual job 
impacts over the long run for this rule. Therefore, DOE used ImSET only 
to generate results for near-term timeframes, where these uncertainties 
are reduced. For more details on the employment impact analysis, see 
chapter 16 of the final rule TSD.

V. Analytical Results and Conclusions

    The following section addresses the results from DOE's analyses 
with respect to the considered energy conservation standards for 
residential dishwashers. It addresses the TSLs examined by DOE and the 
projected impacts of each of these levels if adopted as energy 
conservation standards for residential dishwashers. Additional details 
regarding DOE's

[[Page 90104]]

analyses are contained in the final rule TSD supporting this final 
rule.

A. Trial Standard Levels

    DOE analyzed the benefits and burdens of two TSLs for residential 
dishwashers.\74\ These TSLs were developed by combining specific 
efficiency levels that have positive LCC savings for each of the 
product classes analyzed by DOE.\75\ DOE presents the results for the 
TSLs in this document, while the results for all efficiency levels that 
DOE analyzed are in the final rule TSD.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \74\ Three TSLs were analyzed during the 2014 NOPR phase for the 
three of four efficiency levels that had positive LCC savings. 
Efficiency levels with negative LCC savings are not analyzed in the 
NIA and are not represented in a TSL. Because only one efficiency 
level for standard-size residential dishwashers (EL 3) had positive 
LCC savings for the final rule and both efficiency levels for 
compact residential dishwashers (EL 1 and EL 2) have positive LCC 
savings, DOE analyzed two TSLs for the final rule, as presented in 
Table V.1. Each efficiency level for compact residential dishwashers 
was combined with the one efficiency level for standard residential 
dishwashers to form two TSLs.
    \75\ For standard-size residential dishwashers, Efficiency 
Levels 1, 2, and 4 all had negative average LCC savings, so DOE did 
not consider them when forming the TSLs. ELs 1, 2, and 4 shifted to 
negative LCCs due to a number of factors including (1) updates to 
the engineering analysis (discussed above and in the final rule TSD 
chapter 5); (2) adjusting to 2015$ from 2014$; (3) an updated base-
case efficiency distribution from 2014 to 2016; and (4) using the 
updated AEO 2016 from AEO 2013.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table V.1 presents the TSLs and the corresponding efficiency levels 
that DOE has identified for potential amended energy conservation 
standards for residential dishwashers. TSL 1 represents the only 
efficiency level for standard-size residential dishwashers with 
positive LCC savings and the lowest efficiency level above the baseline 
for compact residential dishwashers. TSL 2 represents the maximum 
technologically feasible (``max-tech'') energy efficiency for the 
compact product class and repeats the efficiency level for the 
standard-size product class.

                                              Table V.1--Trial Standard Levels for Residential Dishwashers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                             Standard                                         Compact
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           TSL                                            Annual  energy  Water use  per                  Annual  energy  Water use  per
                                                                EL          use  (kWh)     cycle  (gal)         EL          use  (kWh)     cycle  (gal)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.......................................................               3             255            3.10               1             203            3.10
2.......................................................               3             255            3.10               2             130            1.70
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Economic Justification and Energy Savings

1. Economic Impacts on Individual Consumers
    DOE analyzed the economic impacts on residential dishwasher 
consumers by looking at the effects that potential amended standards at 
each TSL would have on the LCC and PBP. DOE also examined the impacts 
of potential standards on selected consumer subgroups. These analyses 
are discussed below.
a. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period
    In general, higher-efficiency products affect consumers in two 
ways: (1) Purchase price increases and (2) annual operating costs 
decrease. Inputs used for calculating the LCC and PBP include total 
installed costs (i.e., product price plus installation costs), and 
operating costs (i.e., annual energy and water use, energy and water 
prices, energy and water price trends, repair costs, and maintenance 
costs). The LCC calculation also uses product lifetime and a discount 
rate. Chapter 8 of the final rule TSD provides detailed information on 
the LCC and PBP analyses.
    Table V.2 through Table V.5 show the LCC and PBP results for the 
TSLs considered for each product class. In the first of each pair of 
tables, the simple payback is measured relative to the baseline 
product. In the second table, the impacts are measured relative to the 
efficiency distribution in the no-new-standards case in the compliance 
year (see section IV.F of this document). Because some consumers 
purchase products with higher efficiency in the no-new-standards case, 
the average savings are less than the difference between the average 
LCC of the baseline products and the average LCC at each TSL. The 
savings refer only to consumers who are affected by a standard at a 
given TSL. Those who already purchase a product with efficiency at or 
above a given TSL are not affected. Consumers for whom the LCC 
increases at a given TSL experience a net cost.

                                       Table V.2--Average LCC and PBP Results for Standard Residential Dishwashers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               Average costs (2015$)
                                                         ----------------------------------------------------------------     Simple          Average
                   TSL                          EL                         First year's      Lifetime                       payback \*\      lifetime
                                                             Installed       operating       operating          LCC            years           years
                                                               cost            cost            cost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       0             411              41             481             893  ..............              15
                                                       1             432              40             465             896            16.1              15
                                                       2             470              37             428             898            13.5              15
1,2.....................................               3             491              35             405             897            12.9              15
                                                       4             539              31             361             900            12.9              15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: The results for each TSL are calculated assuming that all consumers use products at that efficiency level. The PBP is measured relative to the
  baseline product.
* The Simple Payback represents the number of years to recover incremental installed costs for the households experiencing a net benefit.


[[Page 90105]]


    Table V.3--Average LCC Savings Relative to the No-New-Standards Case for Standard Residential Dishwashers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Life-cycle cost savings
                                                                             -----------------------------------
                                                                                                   Percent of
                            TSL                                    EL            Average LCC     consumers that
                                                                                  savings *      experience  net
                                                                                   (2015$)          cost (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                          1             (1.94)                 4
                                                                          2             (1.07)                25
1,2.......................................................                3               0.28                58
                                                                          4             (3.14)                67
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The savings represent the average LCC for affected consumers.
Parentheses indicate negative (-) values.


                                       Table V.4--Average LCC and PBP Results for Compact Residential Dishwashers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                              Average Costs  (2015$)
                                                         ----------------------------------------------------------------     Simple          Average
                   TSL                          EL                         First year's      Lifetime                        payback*        lifetime
                                                             Installed       operating       operating          LCC           (years)         (years)
                                                               cost            cost            cost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       0             445              30             352             798  ..............              15
1.......................................               1             457              28             323             781             4.8              15
2.......................................               2             485              19             213             698             3.3              15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: The results for each TSL are calculated assuming that all consumers use products at that efficiency level. The PBP is measured relative to the
  baseline product.
* The Simple Payback represents the number of years to recover incremental installed costs for the households experiencing a net benefit.


    Table V.5--Average LCC Savings Relative to the No-New-Standards Case for Compact Residential Dishwashers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Life-cycle cost savings
                                                                             -----------------------------------
                                                                                                   Percent of
                            TSL                                    EL            Average LCC     consumers that
                                                                                  Savings *      experience  net
                                                                                   (2015$)          cost  (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.........................................................                 1                17                 8
2.........................................................                 2                90                12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The savings represent the average LCC for affected consumers.

b. Consumer Subgroup Analysis
    In the consumer subgroup analysis, DOE estimated the impact of the 
considered TSLs on low-income households. Table V.6 and Table V.7 
compare the average LCC savings and PBP at each efficiency level for 
the consumer subgroup, along with the average LCC savings for the 
entire consumer sample. The average LCC savings and PBP for low-income 
households at the considered efficiency levels are not substantially 
different from the average for all households. Chapter 11 of the final 
rule TSD presents the complete LCC and PBP results for the subgroup.

  Table V.6--Standard Residential Dishwashers: Comparison of LCC Savings and PBP for Consumer Subgroups and All
                                                   Households
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Average life-cycle cost savings   Simple payback period  (years)
                                                           (2015$)             ---------------------------------
                     TSL                     ----------------------------------
                                                 Low-income                        Low-income    All  households
                                                 households    All  households     households
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1,2.........................................          (0.70)             0.28             12.9             12.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parentheses indicate negative (-) values.


[[Page 90106]]


  Table V.7--Compact Residential Dishwashers: Comparison of LCC Savings and PBP for Consumer Subgroups and All
                                                   Households
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Average life-cycle cost     Simple payback period  (years)
                                                         savings  (2015$)        -------------------------------
                       TSL                       --------------------------------
                                                    Low-income          All         Low-income          All
                                                    households      households      households      households
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...............................................              16              17             4.9             4.8
2...............................................              84              90             3.4             3.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

c. Rebuttable Presumption Payback
    As discussed in section IV.F.10 of this final rule, EPCA 
establishes a rebuttable presumption that an energy conservation 
standard is economically justified if the increased purchase cost for a 
product that meets the standard is less than three times the value of 
the first-year energy savings resulting from the standard. In 
calculating a rebuttable presumption payback period for each of the 
considered TSLs, DOE used discrete values, and, as required by EPCA, 
based the energy use calculation on the DOE test procedure for 
residential dishwashers. In contrast, the PBPs presented in section 
IV.F.10 of this final rule were calculated using distributions that 
reflect the range of energy use in the field.
    Table V.8 presents the rebuttable-presumption payback periods for 
the considered TSLs for residential dishwashers. While DOE examined the 
rebuttable-presumption criterion, it considered whether the standard 
levels considered for this rule are economically justified through a 
more detailed analysis of the economic impacts of those levels, 
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i), that considers the full range 
of impacts to the consumer, manufacturer, Nation, and environment. The 
results of that analysis serve as the basis for DOE to evaluate the 
economic justification for a potential standard level, thereby 
supporting or rebutting the results of any preliminary determination of 
economic justification.

           Table V.8--Residential Dishwashers: Rebuttable PBPs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Trial standard
                                                              level
                     Product class                     -----------------
                                                           1        2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard (years)......................................      7.5      7.5
Compact (years).......................................      3.7      2.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Economic Impacts on Manufacturers
    DOE performed an MIA to estimate the impact of amended energy 
conservation standards on manufacturers of residential dishwashers. The 
next section describes the expected impacts on manufacturers at each 
considered TSL. Chapter 12 of the final rule TSD explains the analysis 
in further detail.
a. Industry Cash Flow Analysis Results
    In this section, DOE provides GRIM results from the analysis, which 
examines changes in the industry that would result from a standard. The 
following tables illustrate the estimated financial impacts 
(represented by changes in INPV) of potential amended energy 
conservation standards on manufacturers of residential dishwashers, as 
well as the conversion costs that DOE estimates manufacturers of 
residential dishwashers would incur at each TSL.
    DOE modeled two scenarios using different markup assumptions and 
two scenarios using different conversion cost assumptions for a total 
of four different scenarios. Each scenario results in a unique set of 
cash flows and corresponding industry value at each TSL. These 
assumptions correspond to the bounds of a range of market responses 
that DOE anticipates could occur in the standards case. The tables 
below depict the financial impacts on manufacturers (represented by 
changes in INPV) and the conversion costs DOE estimates manufacturers 
would incur at each TSL. Table V.9 and Table V.10 correspond to the 
scenarios using scaled estimates of the capital conversion costs from 
the 2012 Direct Final Rule with the preservation of gross margin 
markups and the preservation of per-unit operating profit markups 
respectively. Table V.11 and Table V.12 correspond to the scenarios 
using estimates of the capital conversion from the current engineering 
cost model, again with the preservation of gross margin markups and the 
preservation of per-unit operating profit markups respectively. For a 
given conversion cost scenario, results corresponding to the 
preservation of gross margin markups scenario reflect the lower (less 
severe) bound of impacts whereas the results corresponding to the 
preservation of per-unit operating profit markups scenario reflect the 
upper (more severe) bound of impacts.
    The INPV results refer to the difference in industry value between 
the no-new-standards case and the standards case, which DOE calculated 
by summing the discounted industry cash flows from the base year (2016) 
through the end of the analysis period (2048). The discussion also 
notes the difference in cash flow between the no-new-standards case and 
the standards case in the year before the compliance date of potential 
amended energy conservation standards. This figure provides an estimate 
of the required conversion costs relative to the cash flow generated by 
the industry in the no-new-standards case.

  Table V.9--Manufacturer Impact Analysis for Residential Dishwashers--Scaled Capital Conversion Costs From the
                  2012 Direct Final Rule With the Preservation of Gross Margin Markups Scenario
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       Trial standard level
                                               Units                 Base case   -------------------------------
                                                                                         1               2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INPV............................  (2015$ millions)..............           527.7           381.3           379.0
Change in INPV..................  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............          -146.3          -148.7
                                  (%)...........................
                                                                                          -27.7%          -28.2%

[[Page 90107]]

 
Product Conversion Costs........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............            93.7            94.8
Capital Conversion Costs........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............           141.1           143.2
Total Conversion Costs..........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............           234.8           238.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 Table V.10--Manufacturer Impact Analysis for Residential Dishwashers--Scaled Capital Conversion Costs From the
           2012 Direct Final Rule With the Preservation of Per-Unit Operating Profit Markups Scenario
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       Trial standard level
                                               Units                 Base case   -------------------------------
                                                                                         1               2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INPV............................  (2015$ millions)..............           527.7           327.0           324.4
Change in INPV..................  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............          -200.7          -203.3
                                  (%)...........................  ..............          -38.0%          -38.5%
Product Conversion Costs........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............            93.7            94.8
Capital Conversion Costs........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............           141.1           143.2
Total Conversion Costs..........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............           234.8           238.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Table V.11--Manufacturer Impact Analysis for Residential Dishwashers--Capital Conversion Costs From the 2016
                  Engineering Cost Model With the Preservation of Gross Margin Markups Scenario
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       Trial standard level
                                               Units                 Base case   -------------------------------
                                                                                         1               2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INPV............................  (2015$ millions)..............           527.7           464.7           459.3
Change in INPV..................  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............           -63.0           -68.3
                                  (%)...........................  ..............          -11.9%          -13.0%
Product Conversion Costs........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............            93.7            94.8
Capital Conversion Costs........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............            69.1            74.6
Total Conversion Costs..........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............           162.8           169.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Table V.12--Manufacturer Impact Analysis for Residential Dishwashers--Capital Conversion Costs From the 2016
           Engineering Cost Model With the Preservation of Per-Unit Operating Profit Markups Scenario
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       Trial standard level
                                               Units                 Base case   -------------------------------
                                                                                         1               2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INPV............................  (2015$ millions)..............           527.7           408.2           402.5
Change in INPV..................  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............          -119.5          -125.2
                                  (%)...........................  ..............          -22.6%          -23.7%
Product Conversion Costs........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............            93.7            94.8
Capital Conversion Costs........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............            69.1            74.6
Total Conversion Costs..........  (2015$ millions)..............  ..............           162.8           169.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Because standard residential dishwashers represent over 99 percent 
of shipments in the year leading up to potential amended standards, 
changes to this product class contribute the majority of impacts to 
INPV across all TSLs analyzed in this rulemaking.
    At TSL 1, DOE estimates impacts on INPV to range from -$200.7 
million to -$63.0 million, or a change in INPV of -38.0 percent to -
11.9 percent. At this level, industry free cash flow is estimated to 
decrease by as much as 231.9 percent to -$51.9 million, compared to the 
no-new-standards case value of $39.4 million in the year leading up to 
the amended energy conservation standards.
    At TSL 1, although overall INPV impacts are indicative of impacts 
on INPV for the standard residential dishwasher industry, DOE estimates 
impacts on compact residential dishwasher INPV to range from -$8.5 
million to -$6.1 million, or a change in INPV of -207.6 percent to -
150.4 percent.
    At TSL 1, for standard residential dishwashers, DOE expects 
manufacturers would optimize the hydraulic system, and incorporate 
electronic controls, multiple spray arms, separate drain and 
circulation pumps, tub insulation, a soil sensor, improved filters, a 
temperature sensor, a flow meter, a water diverter assembly, and 
variable-speed motors. The component changes required to enable these

[[Page 90108]]

improvements contribute to an MPC of $205.92 for standard residential 
dishwashers. At TSL 1, for compact residential dishwashers, DOE expects 
manufacturers would reduce sump volumes, and incorporate improved 
controls, tub insulation, and a permanent magnet motor. The component 
changes required to enable these improvements contribute to an MPC of 
$176.83 for compact residential dishwashers.
    Approximately 11 percent of standard residential dishwasher 
shipments and 63 percent of compact residential dishwasher shipments 
currently meet the standards specified at TSL 1 (255 kWh/year and 3.1 
gal/cycle for the standard product class, and 203 kWh/year and 3.1 gal/
cycle for the compact product class). Because some standard residential 
dishwashers do not currently employ these energy and water saving 
measures, the product and capital conversion costs for standard 
residential dishwashers are estimated to total $224.9 million based on 
the scaled conversion costs taken from the 2012 Direct Final Rule, or 
$155.5 million based on the engineering cost model, as the production 
lines responsible for producing over 89 percent of standard product 
shipments would need retooling and upgrades. For manufacturers of 
compact residential dishwashers, these investments total $9.8 million 
based on the scaled conversion costs taken from the 2012 Direct Final 
Rule, or $7.3 million based on the engineering cost model. Accordingly, 
the conversion costs required to design and produce compliant standard 
residential dishwashers contribute to the majority of impacts on INPV 
at TSL 1.
    At TSL 2, DOE estimates impacts on INPV to range from -$203.3 
million to -$68.3 million, or a change in INPV of -38.5 percent to -
13.0 percent. At this level, industry free cash flow is estimated to 
decrease by as much as 235.1 percent to -$53.2 million, compared to the 
no-new-standards case value of $39.4 million in the year leading up to 
the amended energy conservation standards.
    At TSL 2, although overall INPV impacts are indicative of impacts 
on INPV for the standard residential dishwasher industry, DOE estimates 
impacts on compact residential dishwasher INPV to range from -$12.1 
million to -$11.4 million, or a change in INPV of -297.0 percent to -
280.0 percent. Because these impacts are attributed to manufacturers of 
compact residential dishwashers in the countertop configuration, DOE 
expects that manufacturers would exit the market for these products at 
TSL 2.
    For standard residential dishwashers, TSL 2 corresponds to the same 
efficiency level (EL 3) as that corresponding to TSL 1. Therefore, at 
TSL 2, DOE expects manufacturers would incorporate the same design 
option changes as described for TSL 1. The component changes required 
to enable these improvements contribute to an MPC of $205.92 for 
standard residential dishwashers. At TSL 2, for compact residential 
dishwashers, in addition to the design changes required for baseline 
units to reach TSL 1, DOE expects manufacturers would optimize the 
hydraulic system, integrate improved filters, and incorporate the 
internal water heater into the base of the tub. The component changes 
required to enable these improvements contribute to an MPC of $196.44 
for compact residential dishwashers at TSL 2.
    For standard residential dishwashers, approximately 11 percent of 
shipments currently meet the standards specified at TSL 2 (255 kWh/year 
and 3.1 gal/cycle). Similarly, 11 percent of compact residential 
dishwasher shipments currently meet the standards specified at TSL 2 
(130 kWh/year and 1.7 gal/cycle). Because some standard residential 
dishwashers do not currently employ these energy and water saving 
measures, the product and capital conversion costs for standard 
residential dishwashers are estimated to total $224.9 million based on 
the scaled conversion costs taken from the 2012 Direct Final Rule, or 
$155.5 million based on the engineering cost model, as the production 
lines responsible for producing over 89 percent of standard product 
shipments would need retooling and upgrades. For manufacturers of 
compact residential dishwashers, these investments total $13.0 million 
based on the scaled conversion costs taken from the 2012 Direct Final 
Rule, or $13.9 million based on the engineering cost model. 
Accordingly, the conversion costs required to design and produce 
compliant standard residential dishwashers contribute to the majority 
of impacts on INPV at TSL 2.
b. Direct Impacts on Employment
    To quantitatively assess the impacts of energy conservation 
standards on direct employment, DOE used the GRIM to estimate the 
domestic labor expenditures and number of production and non-production 
employees in the no-new-standards case and at each TSL. DOE used 
statistical data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2014 Annual Survey of 
Manufactures (ASM), results of the engineering analysis, and 
manufacturer feedback to calculate industry-wide labor expenditures and 
direct domestic employment levels.
    Labor expenditures related to product manufacturing depend on the 
labor intensity of the product, the sales volume, and an assumption 
that wages remain fixed in real terms over time. The total labor 
expenditures in each year are calculated by multiplying the MPCs by the 
labor percentage of MPCs. The total labor expenditures in the GRIM were 
then converted to domestic production employment levels. To do this, 
DOE relied on the Production Workers Annual Wages, Production Workers 
Annual Hours, Total Fringe Benefits, Annual Payroll, Production Workers 
Average for Year, and Number of Employees from the ASM to convert total 
labor expenditure to total production employees.
    The total production employees is then multiplied by the U.S. labor 
percentage to convert total production employment to total domestic 
production employment. The U.S. labor percentage represents the 
industry fraction of domestic manufacturing production capacity for the 
covered product. This value is derived from manufacturer feedback, 
product database analysis, and publicly available information. DOE 
estimates that 80 percent of the standard residential dishwashers are 
produced domestically and that there are currently no compact 
residential dishwashers produced domestically.
    The domestic production employees estimate covers production line 
workers, including line supervisors, who are directly involved in 
fabricating and assembling products within the original equipment 
manufacturer (OEM) facility. Workers performing services that are 
closely associated with production operations, such as materials 
handling tasks using forklifts, are also included as production labor. 
DOE's estimates only account for production workers who manufacture the 
specific equipment covered by this rulemaking.
    Non-production workers account for the remainder of the direct 
employment figure. The non-production employees covers domestic workers 
who are not directly involved in the production process, such as sales, 
engineering, human resources, management, etc. Using the amount of 
domestic production workers calculated above, non-production domestic 
employees are extrapolated by multiplying the ratio of non-production 
workers in the industry compared to production employees. DOE assumes 
that this employee distribution ratio remains constant

[[Page 90109]]

between the no-new-standards case and standards cases.
    Using the GRIM, DOE estimates in the absence of new energy 
conservation standards there would be 3,829 domestic workers in the 
residential dishwasher industry in 2019. Table V.13 shows the range of 
the impacts of amended energy conservation standards on U.S. 
manufacturing employment in the residential dishwasher industry. The 
discussion below provides a qualitative evaluation of the range of 
potential impacts presented in the table.

             Table V.13--Total Number of Domestic Residential Dishwasher Production Workers in 2019
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Trial standard level
                                  No-new-    -------------------------------------------------------------------
                              standards case                  1                                 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Domestic Production Workers            3,116  800 to 3,241....................  800 to 3,241
 in 2019.
Domestic Non-Production                  713  741.............................  741
 Workers in 2019.
Total Direct Domestic                  3,829  1,541 to 3,982..................  1,541 to 3,982
 Employment in 2019.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The direct employment impacts shown in Table IV.13 represent the 
potential domestic employment changes that could result from amended 
energy conservation standards for residential dishwashers. The upper 
bound estimate corresponds to the increase in the number of domestic 
workers that would result from amended energy conservation standards if 
manufacturers continue to produce the same scope of covered equipment 
within the United States after compliance takes effect. The lower bound 
of the range represents the estimated maximum decrease in the total 
number of U.S. domestic workers if production of non-compliant product 
platforms is moved to lower labor-cost countries.
    Because TSL 1 and TSL 2 both correspond to Efficiency Level 3 for 
standard residential dishwashers, the employment impacts displayed in 
Table V.13 are the same at TSL 1 and TSL 2. Both show a 4 percent 
increase in domestic production and non-production employment relative 
to the no-new-standards case, provided manufacturers do not relocate 
production facilities outside of the United States. However, some of 
the design options analyzed will require manufacturers to completely 
redesign product platforms. Because of the large upfront capital and 
product development costs associated with platform redesigns, and the 
fact that few existing units meet the standards at TSL 1 and TSL 2, 
some manufacturers may consider relocating some of their domestic 
production of residential dishwashers to lower-labor-cost countries for 
standards at those TSLs. This scenario is reflected by the lower bound 
of results in Table V.13. For both TSLs, the lower bound of results 
correspond to a 74 percent decrease in domestic production employment 
production, and assumes manufacturers of residential dishwashers decide 
to shift production of their non-compliant platforms abroad (or source 
from abroad, maintaining the same number platform offerings).
    Additionally, in response to the 2014 NOPR, AHAM commented that DOE 
underestimated the retail price increase and the subsequent decline in 
industry shipments resulting from amended energy conservation 
standards. (AHAM, No. 21 at pp. 14-15) A greater decrease in total 
shipments than what is modeled in this final rule could also result in 
a decrease in domestic production employment, as manufacturers react to 
lower demand by reducing their manufacturing workforce.
    Additional detail on the analysis of direct employment can be found 
in chapter 12 of the final rule TSD. Additionally, the employment 
impacts discussed in this section are independent of the employment 
impacts from the broader U.S. economy, which are documented in chapter 
16 of the final rule TSD.
c. Impacts on Manufacturing Capacity
    Approximately 11 percent of shipments of residential dishwashers 
already comply with the energy conservation standard levels analyzed in 
this rulemaking. Not every manufacturer that ships standard residential 
dishwashers offers products that meet these standards. Because 
manufacturers would need to make substantial platform changes by the 
2019 compliance date, many would have to run parallel production 
between the announcement of the final rule and the compliance date. 
This requirement may impact manufacturing capacity during this interim 
period.
d. Impacts on Sub-Groups of Manufacturers
    Using average cost assumptions to develop an industry cash-flow 
estimate may not be adequate for assessing differential impacts among 
manufacturer subgroups. Small manufacturers, niche equipment 
manufacturers, and manufacturers exhibiting a cost structure 
substantially different from the industry average could be affected 
disproportionately. DOE examined the potential for disproportionate 
impacts on small business manufacturers, as discussed in section VI.B 
of this final rule. DOE did not identify any other manufacturer 
subgroups for this rulemaking.
e. Cumulative Regulatory Burden
    One aspect of assessing manufacturer burden involves looking at the 
cumulative impact of multiple DOE standards and the regulatory actions 
of other Federal agencies and States that affect the manufacturers of a 
covered product or equipment. While any one regulation may not impose a 
significant burden on manufacturers, the combined effects of several 
existing or impending regulations may have serious consequences for 
some manufacturers, groups of manufacturers, or an entire industry. 
Multiple regulations affecting the same manufacturer can strain profits 
and lead companies to abandon product lines or markets with lower 
expected future returns than competing products. For these reasons, DOE 
conducts an analysis of cumulative regulatory burden as part of its 
rulemakings pertaining to appliance efficiency.
    For the cumulative regulatory burden, DOE considers the impacts of 
other Federal regulations affecting manufacturers of residential 
dishwashers that will take effect approximately 3 years before or after 
the 2019 compliance date of this rulemaking. Most of the major 
regulations identified by DOE that meet this criterion are other energy 
conservation standards for products and equipment also made by 
manufacturers of residential dishwashers.
    Table V.14 lists the other energy conservation standards affecting 
dishwasher manufacturers. For each rule, the table lists the rule's 
standard compliance year, the total number of manufacturers operating 
in that given industry, the number of dishwasher

[[Page 90110]]

manufacturers affected by the rule, and the approximate year that 
compliance with standards will be required. The table also contains 
expected industry conversion costs for the given rule, as well as 
industry conversion costs as a percentage of conversion period industry 
revenues.

    Table V.14--Other Energy Conservation Standards Rulemakings Affecting the Residential Dishwasher Industry
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Industry         Industry
                                   Number of     Manufacturers    Approximate      conversion       conversion
          Regulation             manufacturers    from final       standards     costs (millions   cost/ revenue
                                       *            rule **          year              $)          [dagger] (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Residential Microwave Ovens,                14               9            2016  $43.1 million                0.6
 78 FR 36316 (June 17, 2013).                                                    (2010$).
Commercial Refrigeration                    54               1            2017  $184.0 million               2.0
 Equipment, 79 FR 17725 (March                                                   (2012$).
 28, 2014).
PTAC, 80 FR 43162 (July 21,                 12               2            2017  N/A               [dagger][dagge
 2015).                                                                          [dagger][dagger          r] N/A
                                                                                 ].
Automatic Commercial Ice                    16               4            2018  $25.1 million                2.5
 Makers, 80 FR 4645 (Jan. 28,                                                    (2013$).
 2015).
Residential Clothes Washers,                13              10            2018  $418.5 million               2.3
 77 FR 32308 (May 31, 2012).                                                     (2010$).
Commercial Clothes Washers, 79               6               3            2018  $10.2 million                2.2
 FR 74492 (Dec. 15, 2014).                                                       (2013$).
Dehumidifiers, 81 FR 38338                  30               4            2019  $52.5 million                4.5
 (June 13, 2016).                                                                (2014$).
Kitchen Ranges and Ovens, 81                21              11            2019  $119.2 million               0.8
 FR 60784 (Sept. 2, 2016).                                                       (2015$).
Portable ACs, 81 FR 38398                   10               3            2021  $302.8 million               8.6
 (June 13, 2016).                                                                (2014$).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This column presents the total number of manufacturers identified in the energy conservation standard rule
  contributing to cumulative regulatory burden.
** This column presents the number of OEMs producing dishwashers that are also listed as manufacturers in the
  listed energy conservation standard contributing to cumulative regulatory burden.
[dagger] This column presents conversion costs as a percentage of cumulative revenue for the industry during the
  conversion period. The conversion period is the timeframe over which manufacturers must make conversion costs
  investments and lasts from the announcement year of the final rule to the standards year of the final rule.
  This period typically ranges from 3 to 5 years, depending on the energy conservation standard.
[dagger][dagger] As detailed in the energy conservation standards final rule for packaged terminal air
  conditioners (PTACs) and packaged terminal heat pumps (PTHPs), DOE established amended energy efficiency
  standards for PTAC equipment at the minimum efficiency level specified in the ANSI/American Society of
  Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers/Illuminating Engineering Society Standard 90.1-2013 for
  PTAC equipment. Accordingly, there were no conversion costs associated with amended energy conservation
  standards for PTACs.

    During the comment period following the NOPR public meeting, 
manufacturers provided comments relating to the substantial effects of 
multiple overlapping DOE energy conservation standards on manufacturers 
of residential dishwashers. DOE summarized and addressed these comments 
in section IV.J.3 of this final rule. For more details, see chapter 12 
of the final rule TSD.
    DOE will continue to evaluate its approach to assessing cumulative 
regulatory burden for use in future rulemakings to ensure that it is 
effectively capturing the overlapping impacts of its regulations. In 
particular, DOE will assess whether looking at rules where any portion 
of the compliance period potentially overlaps with the compliance 
period for the subject rulemaking would yield a more accurate 
reflection of cumulative regulatory burden.
3. National Impact Analysis
    This section presents DOE's estimates of the national energy 
savings and the NPV of consumer benefits that would result from each of 
the TSLs considered as potential amended standards.
a. Significance of Energy Savings
    To estimate the energy savings attributable to potential amended 
standards for residential dishwashers, DOE compared the energy 
consumption under the no-new-standards case to the anticipated energy 
consumption under each TSL. The savings are measured over the entire 
lifetime of products purchased in the 30-year period that begins in the 
year of anticipated compliance with amended standards (2019-2048). 
Table V.15 presents DOE's projections of the national energy and water 
savings for each TSL considered for residential dishwashers. The 
savings were calculated using the approach described in section IV.H.2 
of this final rule.

Table V.15--Cumulative National Energy and Water Savings for Residential
                   Dishwashers; 30 Years of Shipments
                               [2019-2048]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Trial standard
                                                              level
                                                       -----------------
                                                           1        2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary energy (quads)................................     0.46     0.47
FFC energy (quads)....................................     0.49     0.50
Water (trillion gallons)..............................     0.42     0.43
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    OMB Circular A-4 \76\ requires agencies to present analytical 
results, including separate schedules of the monetized benefits and 
costs that show the type and timing of benefits and costs. Circular A-4 
also directs agencies to consider the variability of key elements 
underlying the estimates of benefits and costs. For this rulemaking, 
DOE undertook a sensitivity analysis using 9 years, rather than 30 
years, of product shipments. The choice of a 9-year period is a proxy 
for the timeline in EPCA for the review of certain energy

[[Page 90111]]

conservation standards and potential revision of and compliance with 
such revised standards.\77\ The review timeframe established in EPCA is 
generally not synchronized with the product lifetime, product 
manufacturing cycles, or other factors specific to residential 
dishwashers. Thus, such results are presented for informational 
purposes only and are not indicative of any change in DOE's analytical 
methodology. The NES sensitivity analysis results based on a 9-year 
analytical period are presented in Table V.16. The impacts are counted 
over the lifetime of residential dishwashers purchased in 2019-2027.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \76\ OMB. Circular A-4: Regulatory Analysis. September 17, 2003. 
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a004_a-4/.
    \77\ Section 325(m) of EPCA requires DOE to review its standards 
at least once every 6 years, and requires, for certain products, a 
3-year period after any new standard is promulgated before 
compliance is required, except that in no case may any new standards 
be required within 6 years of the compliance date of the previous 
standards. While adding a 6-year review to the 3-year compliance 
period adds up to 9 years, DOE notes that it may undertake reviews 
at any time within the 6-year period and that the 3-year compliance 
date may yield to the 6-year backstop. A 9-year analysis period may 
not be appropriate given the variability that occurs in the timing 
of standards reviews and the fact that for some products, the 
compliance period is 5 years rather than 3 years.

Table V.16--Cumulative National Energy and Water Savings for Residential
                    Dishwashers; 9 Years of Shipments
                               [2019-2027]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Trial standard
                                                              level
                                                       -----------------
                                                           1        2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary energy (quads)................................     0.13     0.13
FFC energy (quads)....................................     0.13     0.14
Water (trillion gallons)..............................     0.11     0.11
------------------------------------------------------------------------

b. Net Present Value of Consumer Costs and Benefits
    DOE estimated the cumulative NPV of the total costs and savings for 
consumers that would result from the TSLs considered for residential 
dishwashers. In accordance with OMB's guidelines on regulatory 
analysis,\78\ DOE calculated NPV using both a 7-percent and a 3-percent 
real discount rate. Table V.17 shows the consumer NPV results with 
impacts counted over the lifetime of products purchased in 2019-2048.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \78\ OMB. Circular A-4: Regulatory Analysis. September 17, 2003. 
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a004_a-4/.

    Table V.17--Cumulative Net Present Value of Consumer Benefits for
             Residential Dishwashers; 30 Years of Shipments
                               [2019-2048]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Trial standard
                                                              level
                     Discount rate                     -----------------
                                                           1        2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Billion 2015$
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 percent.............................................     2.08     2.21
7 percent.............................................     0.33     0.37
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The NPV results based on the aforementioned 9-year analytical 
period are presented in Table V.18. The impacts are counted over the 
lifetime of products purchased in 2019-2027. As mentioned previously, 
such results are presented for informational purposes only and are not 
indicative of any change in DOE's analytical methodology or decision 
criteria.

    Table V.18--Cumulative Net Present Value of Consumer Benefits for
              Residential Dishwashers; 9 Years of Shipments
                               [2019-2027]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Trial standard
                                                              level
                     Discount rate                     -----------------
                                                           1        2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Billion 2015$
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 percent.............................................     0.49     0.53
7 percent.............................................     0.03     0.05
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The results in Table V.17 reflect the use of a default trend to 
estimate the change in price for residential dishwashers over the 
analysis period (see section IV.H.3 of this document). DOE also 
conducted a sensitivity analysis that considered one scenario with a 
lower rate of price decline than the reference case and one scenario 
with a higher rate of price decline than the reference case. The 
results of these alternative cases are presented in appendix 10C of the 
final rule TSD. In the high-price-decline case, the NPV of consumer 
benefits is higher than in the default case. In the low-price-decline 
case, the NPV of consumer benefits is lower than in the default case.
c. Indirect Impacts on Employment
    DOE expects that amended energy conservation standards for 
residential dishwashers would reduce energy expenditures for consumers 
of those products, with the resulting net savings being redirected to 
other forms of economic activity. These expected shifts in spending and 
economic activity could affect the demand for labor. As described in 
section IV.F of this document, DOE used an input/output model of the 
U.S. economy to estimate indirect employment impacts of the TSLs that 
DOE considered. DOE understands that there are uncertainties involved 
in projecting employment impacts, especially changes in the later years 
of the analysis. Therefore, DOE generated results for near-term 
timeframes (2019-2024), where these uncertainties are reduced.
    The results suggest that the proposed standards are likely to have 
a negligible impact on the net demand for labor in the economy. The net 
change in jobs is so small that it would be imperceptible in national 
labor statistics and might be offset by other, unanticipated effects on 
employment. Chapter 16 of the final rule TSD presents detailed results 
regarding anticipated indirect employment impacts.
4. Impact on Utility or Performance of Products
    Impacts to consumer utility of the standard levels analyzed in this 
rulemaking are discussed in section IV.C.1.b of this final rule. 
Because DOE is not amending standards in this final rule, DOE is not 
reducing the utility or performance of residential dishwashers.
5. Impact of Any Lessening of Competition
    DOE considered any lessening of competition that would be likely to 
result from amended standards, but has determined not to finalize 
amended standards in this rulemaking. In addition, as discussed in 
section III.E.1.e of this final rule, because DOE is not amending 
standards in this final rule, review by the Department of Justice to 
assess the impact of any lessening of competition is not required.
6. Need of the Nation To Conserve Energy
    Enhanced energy efficiency, where economically justified, improves 
the Nation's energy security, strengthens the economy, and reduces the 
environmental impacts (costs) of energy production. Reduced electricity 
demand due to energy conservation standards is also likely to reduce 
the cost of maintaining the reliability of the electricity system, 
particularly during peak-load periods. As a measure of this reduced 
demand, chapter 15 in the final rule TSD presents the estimated 
reduction in generating capacity, relative to the no-new-standards 
case,

[[Page 90112]]

for the TSLs that DOE considered in this rulemaking.
    Energy conservation from potential energy conservation standards 
for residential dishwashers is expected to yield environmental benefits 
in the form of reduced emissions of air pollutants and GHGs. Table V.19 
provides DOE's estimate of cumulative emissions reductions expected to 
result from the TSLs considered in this rulemaking. The table includes 
both power sector and site emissions and upstream emissions. The 
emissions were calculated using the multipliers discussed in section 
IV.K of this final rule. DOE reports annual emissions reductions for 
each TSL in chapter 13 of the final rule TSD.

 Table V.19--Cumulative Emissions Reduction for Residential Dishwashers
                          Shipped in 2019-2048
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Trial standard
                                                              level
                                                       -----------------
                                                           1        2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Power Sector and Site Emissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CO2 (million metric tons).............................     24.2     25.0
SO2 (thousand tons)...................................     10.5     10.9
NOX (thousand tons)...................................     45.3     46.2
Hg (tons).............................................     0.03     0.04
CH4 (thousand tons)...................................      1.6      1.7
N2O (thousand tons)...................................      0.2      0.2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           Upstream Emissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CO2 (million metric tons).............................      2.2      2.2
SO2 (thousand tons)...................................      0.1      0.1
NOX (thousand tons)...................................     32.4     33.2
Hg (tons).............................................     0.00     0.00
CH4 (thousand tons)...................................    205.8    210.9
N2O (thousand tons)...................................      0.0      0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           Total FFC Emissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CO2 (million metric tons).............................     26.4     27.2
SO2 (thousand tons)...................................     10.6     11.0
NOX (thousand tons)...................................     77.7     79.4
Hg (tons).............................................     0.03     0.04
CH4 (thousand tons)...................................    207.5    212.6
N2O (thousand tons)...................................      0.2      0.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* CO2eq is the quantity of CO2 that would have the same GWP.

    As part of the analysis for this final rule, DOE estimated monetary 
benefits likely to result from the reduced emissions of CO2 
that DOE estimated for each of the considered TSLs for residential 
dishwashers. As discussed in section IV.L of this document, for 
CO2, DOE used the most recent values for the SCC developed 
by an interagency process. The four sets of SCC values for 
CO2 emissions reductions correspond to the average values 
from a distribution that uses a 5-percent discount rate, the average 
values from a distribution that uses a 3-percent discount rate, the 
average values from a distribution that uses a 2.5-percent discount 
rate, and the 95th-percentile values from a distribution that uses a 3-
percent discount rate. For emissions in 2015, the SCC values (expressed 
in 2015$) are represented by $12.4/t, $40.6/t, $63.2/t, and $118/t, 
respectively. The values for later years are higher due to increasing 
damages (public health, economic and environmental) as the projected 
magnitude of climate change increases.
    Table V.20 presents the global value of CO2 emissions 
reductions at each TSL. For each of the four cases, DOE calculated a 
present value of the stream of annual values using the same discount 
rate as was used in the studies upon which the dollar-per-ton values 
are based. DOE calculated domestic values as a range from 7 percent to 
23 percent of the global values; these results are presented in chapter 
14 of the final rule TSD.

 Table V.20--Estimates of Global Present Value of CO2 Emissions Reduction for Residential Dishwashers Shipped in
                                                    2019-2048
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                          SCC Case *
                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------
                     TSL                                                                           3% Discount
                                                5% Discount      3% Discount     2.5% Discount      rate, 95th
                                               rate, average    rate, average    rate, average      percentile
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         Million 2015$
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................................              183              841            1,337            2,562
2...........................................              188              866            1,377            2,639
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* For each of the four cases, the corresponding SCC value for emissions in 2015 is $12.4, $40.6, $63.2, and $118
  per metric ton (2015$). The values are for CO2 only (i.e., not CO2eq of other GHGs).

    DOE is well aware that scientific and economic knowledge about the 
contribution of CO2 and other GHG emissions to changes in 
the future global climate and the potential resulting damages to the 
world economy continues to evolve rapidly. Thus, any value placed on 
reduced CO2 emissions in this rulemaking is subject to 
change. DOE, together with other Federal agencies, will continue to 
review various methodologies for estimating the monetary value of 
reductions in CO2 and other GHG emissions. This ongoing 
review will consider the comments on this subject that are part of the 
public record for this and other rulemakings, as well as other 
methodological assumptions and issues. However, consistent with DOE's 
legal obligations, and taking into account the uncertainty involved 
with this particular issue, DOE has included in this final rule the 
most recent values and analyses resulting from the interagency review 
process.
    DOE also estimated the cumulative monetary value of the economic 
benefits associated with NOX emissions reductions 
anticipated to result from the considered TSLs for residential 
dishwashers. The dollar-per-ton values that DOE used are discussed in 
section IV.L of this document. Table V.21 presents the cumulative 
present values for NOX emissions reductions for each TSL 
calculated using 7-percent and 3-percent discount rates. This table 
presents values that use the low dollar-per-ton values, which reflect 
DOE's primary estimate. Results that reflect the range of 
NOX dollar-per-ton values are presented in Table V.22.

[[Page 90113]]



  Table V.21--Estimates of Present Value of NOX Emissions Reduction for
              Residential Dishwashers Shipped in 2019-2048
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            3% Discount     7% Discount
                   TSL                         rate            rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Million 2015$
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.......................................             249             100
2.......................................             254             102
------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. Other Factors
    The Secretary of Energy, in determining whether a standard is 
economically justified, may consider any other factors that the 
Secretary deems to be relevant. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)(VII)) No 
other factors were considered in this analysis.
8. Summary of National Economic Impacts
    The NPV of the monetized benefits associated with emissions 
reductions can be viewed as a complement to the NPV of the consumer 
savings calculated for each TSL considered in this rulemaking. Table 
IV.21 presents the NPV values that result from adding the estimates of 
the potential economic benefits resulting from reduced CO2 
and NOX emissions in each of four valuation scenarios to the 
NPV of consumer savings calculated for each TSL considered in this 
rulemaking, at both a 7-percent and 3-percent discount rate. The 
CO2 values used in the columns of each table correspond to 
the 2015 values in the four sets of SCC values discussed above. The 
dollar-per-ton values that DOE used for NOX emissions are 
presented in appendix 14C of the final rule TSD.

Table V.22--Net Present Value of Consumer Savings Combined With Present Value of Monetized Benefits From CO2 and
                                            NOX Emissions Reductions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Consumer NPV at 3% discount rate added with:
                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------
                     TSL                      SCC Case  $12.4/ SCC Case  $40.6/ SCC Case  $63.2/ SCC Case  $118/
                                               t and 3%  Low    t and 3%  Low    t and 3%  Low    t and 3%  Low
                                                NOX  values      NOX  values      NOX  values      NOX  values
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         Billion 2015$
                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................................              2.5              3.2              3.7              4.9
2...........................................              2.6              3.3              3.8              5.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Consumer NPV at 7% discount rate added with:
                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------
TSL                                                  SCC case         SCC case         SCC case         SCC case
                                               $12.4/t and 7%      $40.6/t and      $63.2/t and       $118/t and
                                                      Low NOX       7% Low NOX       7% Low NOX       7% Low NOX
                                                       values           values           values           values
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         Billion 2015$
                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------
1...........................................              0.6              1.3              1.8              3.0
2...........................................              0.7              1.3              1.9              3.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: The SCC case values represent the global SCC in 2015, in 2015$ per metric ton (t), for each case.

    The national operating cost savings are domestic U.S. monetary 
savings that occur as a result of purchasing the covered residential 
dishwashers. The national operating cost savings is measured for the 
lifetime of products shipped in 2019-2048. The CO2 reduction 
is a benefit that accrues globally due to decreased domestic energy 
consumption that is expected to result from this rule. Because 
CO2 emissions have a very long residence time in the 
atmosphere, the SCC values in future years reflect future climate-
related impacts that continue beyond 2100 through 2300.

C. Conclusion

    When considering new or amended energy conservation standards, the 
standards that DOE adopts for any type (or class) of covered product 
must be designed to achieve the maximum improvement in energy 
efficiency that the Secretary determines is technologically feasible 
and economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(A)) In determining 
whether a standard is economically justified, the Secretary must 
determine whether the benefits of the standard exceed its burdens by, 
to the greatest extent practicable, considering the seven statutory 
factors discussed previously. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)) The new or 
amended standard must also result in significant conservation of 
energy. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(3)(B))
    For this final rule, DOE considered the impacts of potential 
amended standards for residential dishwashers at each TSL, beginning 
with the maximum technologically feasible level, to determine whether 
that level was economically justified. To aid the reader as DOE 
discusses the benefits and/or burdens of each TSL, tables in this 
section present a summary of the results of DOE's quantitative analysis 
for each TSL. In addition to the quantitative results presented in the 
tables, DOE also considers other burdens and benefits that affect 
economic justification. These include the impacts on identifiable 
subgroups of consumers who may be disproportionately affected by a 
national standard and impacts on employment.
    DOE also notes that the economics literature provides a wide-
ranging discussion of how consumers trade off upfront costs and energy 
savings in the absence of government intervention. Much of this 
literature attempts to explain why consumers appear to undervalue 
energy efficiency improvements. There is evidence that consumers 
undervalue future energy savings as a result of: (1) A lack of 
information; (2) a lack of sufficient salience of the long-term or 
aggregate benefits; (3) a lack of sufficient savings to warrant 
delaying or altering purchases; (4) excessive focus on the short term, 
in the form of inconsistent weighting of future energy cost savings 
relative to available returns on other investments; (5) computational 
or other difficulties associated with the

[[Page 90114]]

evaluation of relevant tradeoffs; and (6) a divergence in incentives 
(for example, between renters and owners, or builders and purchasers). 
Having less than perfect foresight and a high degree of uncertainty 
about the future, consumers may trade off these types of investments at 
a higher than expected rate between current consumption and uncertain 
future energy cost savings.
    In DOE's current regulatory analysis, potential changes in the 
benefits and costs of a regulation due to changes in consumer purchase 
decisions are included in two ways. First, if consumers forego the 
purchase of a product in the standards case, this decreases sales for 
product manufacturers, and the impact on manufacturers attributed to 
lost revenue is included in the MIA. Second, DOE accounts for energy 
savings attributable only to products actually used by consumers in the 
standards case; if a standard decreases the number of products 
purchased by consumers, this decreases the potential energy savings 
from an energy conservation standard. DOE provides estimates of 
shipments and changes in the volume of product purchases in chapter 9 
of the final rule TSD. However, DOE's current analysis does not 
explicitly control for heterogeneity in consumer preferences, 
preferences across subcategories of products or specific features, or 
consumer price sensitivity variation according to household income.\79\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \79\ P.C. Reiss and M.W. White. Household Electricity Demand, 
Revisited. Review of Economic Studies. 2005. 72(3): pp. 853-883. 
doi: 10.1111/0034-6527.00354.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    While DOE is not prepared at present to provide a fuller 
quantifiable framework for estimating the benefits and costs of changes 
in consumer purchase decisions due to an energy conservation standard, 
DOE is committed to developing a framework that can support empirical 
quantitative tools for improved assessment of the consumer welfare 
impacts of appliance standards. DOE has posted a paper that discusses 
the issue of consumer welfare impacts of appliance energy conservation 
standards, and potential enhancements to the methodology by which these 
impacts are defined and estimated in the regulatory process.\80\ DOE 
welcomes comments on how to more fully assess the potential impact of 
energy conservation standards on consumer choice and how to quantify 
this impact in its regulatory analysis in future rulemakings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \80\ Sanstad, A. H. Notes on the Economics of Household Energy 
Consumption and Technology Choice. 2010. Lawrence Berkeley National 
Laboratory. https://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/pdfs/consumer_ee_theory.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table V.23 and Table V.24 summarize the quantitative impacts 
estimated for each TSL for residential dishwashers. The national 
impacts are measured over the lifetime of residential dishwashers 
purchased in the 30-year period that begins in the anticipated year of 
compliance with potential amended standards (2019-2048). The energy 
savings, emissions reductions, and value of emissions reductions refer 
to full-fuel-cycle results. The efficiency levels contained in each TSL 
are described in section V.A of this final rule.

           Table V.23--Summary of Analytical Results for Residential Dishwasher TSLs: National Impacts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Category                                TSL 1                                TSL 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Cumulative FFC National Energy Savings (quads)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        0.49...............................  0.50
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               NPV of Consumer Costs and Benefits (2015$ billion)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3% discount rate......................  2.08...............................  2.21
7% discount rate......................  0.33...............................  0.37
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             Cumulative FFC Emissions Reduction (Total FFC Emission)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CO2 (million metric tons).............  26.4...............................  27.2
SO2 (thousand tons)...................  10.6...............................  11.0
NOX (thousand tons)...................  77.7...............................  79.4
Hg (tons).............................  0.03...............................  0.04
CH4 (thousand tons)...................  207.5..............................  212.6
N2O (thousand tons)...................  0.2................................  0.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Value of Emissions Reduction (Total FFC Emissions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CO2 (2015$ million) *.................  183 to 2,562.......................  188 to 2,639
NOX--3% discount rate (2015$ million).  249.0 to 561.3.....................  253.8 to 572.1
NOX--7% discount rate (2015$ million).  99.9 to 226.1......................  101.8 to 230.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Range of the economic value of CO2 reductions is based on estimates of the global benefit of reduced CO2
  emissions.


  Table V.24--Summary of Analytical Results for Residential Dishwasher TSLs: Manufacturer and Consumer Impacts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Category                                TSL 1                                TSL 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Manufacturer Impacts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry NPV (2015$ million) (No-new-   327.0 to 464.7.....................  324.4 to 459.3
 standards case, INPV = 527.7).
Industry NPV (% change)...............  (38.0) to (11.9)...................  (38.5) to (13.0)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 90115]]

 
                                      Consumer Average LCC Savings (2015$)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard Dishwasher...................  0.28...............................  0.28
Compact Dishwasher....................  17.................................  90
Shipment-Weighted Average *...........  0.41...............................  1.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Consumer Simple PBP (years)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard Dishwasher...................  12.9...............................  12.9
Compact Dishwasher....................  4.8................................  3.3
Shipment-Weighted Average *...........  12.8...............................  12.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     % of Consumers that Experience Net Cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard Dishwasher...................  58.................................  58
Compact Dishwasher....................  8..................................  12
Shipment-Weighted Average *...........  57.6...............................  57.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parentheses indicate negative (-) values.
* Weighted by shares of each product class in total projected shipments in 2019

    DOE first considered TSL 2, which represents Efficiency Level 3 for 
product class 1 and max-tech for product class 2. TSL 2 would save 0.50 
quads of energy, an amount DOE considers significant. Under TSL 2, the 
NPV of consumer benefit would be $0.37 billion using a discount rate of 
7 percent, and $2.21 billion using a discount rate of 3 percent.
    The cumulative emissions reductions at TSL 2 are 27.2 Mt of 
CO2, 11.0 thousand tons of SO2, 79.4 thousand 
tons of NOX, 0.04 tons of Hg, 212.6 thousand tons of 
CH4, and 0.26 thousand tons of N2O. The estimated 
monetary value of the CO2 emissions reduction at TSL 2 
ranges from $188 million to $2,639 million.
    At TSL 2, the average LCC impact is a savings of $0.28 for standard 
residential dishwashers and $90 for compact residential dishwashers. 
The simple payback period is 12.9 years for standard residential 
dishwashers and 3.3 years for compact residential dishwashers. The 
fraction of consumers experiencing a net LCC cost is 58 percent for 
standard residential dishwashers and 12 percent for compact residential 
dishwashers.
    At TSL 2, the projected change in INPV ranges from a decrease of 
$203.3 million to a decrease of $68.3 million, which correspond to 
decreases of 38.5 percent and 13.0 percent, respectively. Products that 
meet the efficiency standards specified by this TSL are projected to 
represent 11 percent of shipments in the year leading up to amended 
standards. As such, manufacturers would have to redesign nearly all 
products by the expected 2019 compliance date to meet demand. 
Redesigning nearly all units to meet the current max-tech efficiency 
levels would require considerable capital and product conversion 
expenditures. At TSL 2, the capital conversion costs total as much as 
$143.2 million, 1.7 times the industry annual capital expenditure in 
the year leading up to amended standards. DOE estimates that complete 
platform redesigns would cost the industry $94.8 million in product 
conversion costs. These conversion costs largely relate to the 
extensive research programs required to develop new products that meet 
the efficiency standards set forth by TSL 2. These costs are equivalent 
to 2.5 times the industry annual budget for R&D. As such, the 
conversion costs associated with the changes in products and 
manufacturing facilities required at TSL 2 could require significant 
use of manufacturers' financial reserves (manufacturer capital pools), 
impacting other areas of business that compete for these resources and 
significantly reducing INPV. In addition, manufacturers could face a 
substantial impact on profitability at TSL 2. Because manufacturers are 
more likely to reduce their margins to maintain a price-competitive 
product at higher TSLs, DOE expects that TSL 2 would yield impacts 
closer to the high end of the range of INPV impacts. If the high end of 
the range of impacts is reached, as DOE expects, TSL 2 could result in 
a net loss to manufacturers of 38.5 percent of INPV. DOE also notes 
that the significant impacts on the INPV of compact residential 
dishwasher manufacturers, as discussed in section V.B.2.a of this final 
rule, would likely result in the elimination of countertop products 
from the market.
    Additionally, at TSL 2, there is uncertainty regarding whether 
products would be able to maintain consumer utility. The current test 
method for measuring cleaning performance, the ENERGY STAR Cleaning 
Performance Test Method, may have variable results. DOE also received 
conflicting feedback over whether consumer utility would be negatively 
impacted at TSL 2. For these reasons, DOE cannot be certain that TSL 2 
would not negatively impact consumer utility.
    The Secretary concludes that at TSL 2 for residential dishwashers, 
the benefits of energy savings, positive NPV of consumer benefits, 
emission reductions, and the estimated monetary value of the emissions 
reductions would be outweighed by the economic burden on some 
consumers, the potential for negative consumer utility impacts, and the 
impacts on manufacturers, including the conversion costs and profit 
margin impacts that could result in a large reduction in INPV. 
Consequently, the Secretary has concluded that TSL 2 is not 
economically justified.
    DOE then considered TSL 1, which represents Efficiency Level 3 for 
product class 1 and Efficiency Level 1 for product class 2. TSL 1 would 
save an estimated 0.49 quads of energy, an amount DOE considers 
significant. Under TSL 1, the NPV of consumer benefit would be $0.33 
billion using a discount rate of 7 percent, and $2.08 billion using a 
discount rate of 3 percent.
    The cumulative emissions reductions at TSL 1 are 26.4 Mt of 
CO2, 10.6 thousand tons of SO2, 77.7 thousand

[[Page 90116]]

tons of NOX, 0.03 tons of Hg, 207.5 thousand tons of 
CH4, and 0.25 thousand tons of N2O. The estimated 
monetary value of the CO2 emissions reduction at TSL 1 
ranges from $183 million to $2,562 million.
    At TSL 1, the average LCC impact is a savings of $0.28 for standard 
residential dishwashers and $17 for compact residential dishwashers. 
The simple payback period is 12.9 years for standard residential 
dishwashers and 4.8 years for compact residential dishwashers. The 
fraction of consumers experiencing a net LCC cost is 58 percent for 
standard residential dishwashers and 8 percent for compact residential 
dishwashers.
    At TSL 1, the projected change in INPV ranges from a decrease of 
$200.7 million to a decrease of $63.0 million, which represent 
decreases of 38.0 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively. Products that 
meet the efficiency standards specified by this TSL are projected to 
represent approximately 11 percent of shipments in the year leading up 
to amended standards. As such, manufacturers would have to overhaul a 
significant fraction of products by the 2019 compliance date to meet 
demand. At TSL 1, the estimated capital conversion costs total as much 
as $141.1 million, which is 1.7 times the industry annual capital 
expenditure in the year leading up to amended standards. DOE estimates 
that the redesigns necessary to meet these standards would cost the 
industry $93.7 million in product conversion costs. These conversion 
costs largely relate to the research programs required to develop 
products that meet the efficiency standards set forth by TSL 1, and are 
2.5 times the industry annual budget for R&D in the year leading up to 
amended standards. As such, the conversion costs associated with the 
changes in products and manufacturing facilities required at TSL 1 
would still require significant use of manufacturers' financial 
reserves (manufacturer capital pools), impacting other areas of 
business that compete for these resources and significantly reducing 
INPV. Because manufacturers are more likely to reduce their margins to 
maintain a price-competitive product at higher TSLs, DOE expects that 
TSL 1 would yield impacts closer to the high end of the range of INPV 
impacts as indicated by the preservation of operating profit markup 
scenario. If the high end of the range of impacts is reached, as DOE 
expects, TSL 1 could result in a net loss of 38.0 percent in INPV to 
manufacturers of residential dishwashers.
    Additionally, at TSL 1, there is uncertainty regarding whether 
products would be able to maintain consumer utility for the same 
reasons as discussed for TSL 2. The current test method for measuring 
cleaning performance, the ENERGY STAR Cleaning Performance Test Method, 
may have variable results. DOE also received conflicting feedback over 
whether consumer utility would be negatively impacted at TSL 1. For 
these reasons, DOE cannot be certain that TSL 1 would not negatively 
impact consumer utility.
    The Secretary concludes that at TSL 1 for residential dishwashers, 
the benefits of energy savings, positive NPV of consumer benefits, 
emission reductions, and the estimated monetary value of the emissions 
reductions would be outweighed by the economic burden on many 
consumers, the potential for negative consumer utility impacts, and the 
impacts on manufacturers, including the conversion costs and profit 
margin impacts that could result in a large reduction in INPV. 
Consequently, the Secretary has concluded that TSL 1 is not 
economically justified.
    Therefore, based on the above considerations, DOE concludes that 
amended energy conservation standards for residential dishwashers would 
not be economically justified at any level above the current standard 
level because benefits of more stringent standards would not outweigh 
the burdens. Therefore, DOE has determined not to amend the residential 
dishwasher energy conservation standards.

VI. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review

A. Review Under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

    This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, ``Regulatatory Planning and Review.'' 58 
FR 51735 (Oct. 4, 1993). As a result, the Office of Management and 
Budget did not review this rule.

B. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires 
preparation of an initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) and a 
final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) for any rule that by law 
must be proposed for public comment, unless the agency certifies that 
the rule, if promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities. As required by Executive 
Order 13272, ``Proper Consideration of Small Entities in Agency 
Rulemaking,'' 67 FR 53461 (Aug. 16, 2002), DOE published procedures and 
policies on February 19, 2003, to ensure that the potential impacts of 
its rules on small entities are properly considered during the 
rulemaking process. 68 FR 7990. DOE has made its procedures and 
policies available on the Office of the General Counsel's Web site 
(http://energy.gov/gc/office-general-counsel).
    For manufacturers of residential dishwashers, the SBA has set a 
size threshold, which defines those entities classified as ``small 
businesses'' for the purposes of the statute. Manufacturers of 
residential dishwashers have a primary NAICS code of 335228, ``Other 
Major Household Appliance Manufacturing.'' The SBA sets a threshold of 
1,000 employees or less for an entity to be considered as a small 
business for this NAICS code.
    To estimate the number of small businesses which could be impacted 
by the amended energy conservation standards, DOE conducted a market 
survey using all available public information to identify potential 
small manufacturers. To identify small business manufacturers, DOE 
surveyed the May 2012 direct final rule for residential dishwasher 
energy conservation standards, the AHAM membership directory,\81\ DOE's 
Compliance Certification Database,\82\ and individual company Web 
sites. DOE screened out companies that did not themselves manufacture 
products covered by this rulemaking, did not meet the definition of a 
``small business,'' or are foreign owned and operated.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \81\ https://www.aham.org/AHAM/AuxCurrentMembers.
    \82\ https://www.regulations.doe.gov/certification-data/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Approximately half of the total domestic market for residential 
dishwashers is manufactured in the United States by one corporation. 
Together, this manufacturer and three other manufacturers do not meet 
the definition of a small business manufacturer and comprise at least 
90 percent of the residential dishwasher market. The small portion of 
the remaining residential dishwasher market is supplied by a 
combination of approximately 10 OEMs. All of these companies are either 
foreign-owned and operated, or exceed the SBA's employment threshold 
for consideration as a small business under the appropriate NAICS code. 
Therefore, DOE did not identify any domestic small business 
manufacturers of residential dishwashers.
    DOE reviewed this final rule pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act and the procedures and policies discussed

[[Page 90117]]

above. DOE finds that amended energy conservation standards for 
residential dishwashers would not be economically justified. Therefore, 
the rule does not establish amended energy conservation standards for 
residential dishwashers. On the basis of the foregoing, DOE certifies 
that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. Accordingly, DOE has not prepared 
a FRFA for this final rule.

C. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act

    Manufacturers of residential dishwashers must certify to DOE that 
their products comply with any applicable energy conservation 
standards. In certifying compliance, manufacturers must test their 
products according to the DOE test procedures, including any amendments 
adopted for those test procedures. DOE has established regulations for 
the certification and recordkeeping requirements for all covered 
consumer products and commercial equipment, including residential 
dishwashers. 76 FR 12422 (Mar. 7, 2011); 80 FR 5099 (Jan. 30, 2015). 
The collection-of-information requirement for the certification and 
recordkeeping is subject to review and approval by OMB under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). This requirement has been approved by 
OMB under OMB control number 1910-1400. Public reporting burden for the 
certification is estimated to average 30 hours per response, including 
the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, 
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing 
the collection of information.
    Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is 
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty 
for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the 
requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays 
a currently valid OMB Control Number.
    This rule, which finds that amended energy conservation standards 
for residential dishwashers would not be economically justified, 
imposes no new information or record keeping requirements. Accordingly, 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance is not required 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act. (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)

D. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

    In this final rule, DOE determines that amended energy conservation 
standards for residential dishwashers would not be economically 
justified at any level above the current standard level because 
benefits of more stringent standards would not outweigh the burdens. 
DOE has determined that review under the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (NEPA), Public Law 91-190, codified at 42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq. is not required at this time because amended standards are not 
being adopted. NEPA review can only be initiated ``as soon as 
environmental impacts can be meaningfully evaluated.'' Because this 
rule concludes that amended standards are not warranted, and does not 
establish such amended standards, DOE has determined that there are no 
environmental impacts to be evaluated at this time. Accordingly, 
neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact 
statement is required.

E. Review Under Executive Order 13132

    Executive Order 13132, ``Federalism,'' 64 FR 43255 (Aug. 10, 1999), 
imposes certain requirements on Federal agencies formulating and 
implementing policies or regulations that preempt State law or that 
have Federalism implications. The Executive Order requires agencies to 
examine the constitutional and statutory authority supporting any 
action that would limit the policymaking discretion of the States and 
to carefully assess the necessity for such actions. The Executive Order 
also requires agencies to have an accountable process to ensure 
meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the 
development of regulatory policies that have Federalism implications. 
On March 14, 2000, DOE published a statement of policy describing the 
intergovernmental consultation process it will follow in the 
development of such regulations. 65 FR 13735. As this final rule does 
not amended the standards for residential dishwashers, there is no 
impact on the policymaking discretion of the States. Therefore, no 
action is required by Executive Order 13132.

F. Review Under Executive Order 12988

    With respect to the review of existing regulations and the 
promulgation of new regulations, section 3(a) of Executive Order 12988, 
``Civil Justice Reform,'' imposes on Federal agencies the general duty 
to adhere to the following requirements: (1) Eliminate drafting errors 
and ambiguity, (2) write regulations to minimize litigation, (3) 
provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct rather than a 
general standard, and (4) promote simplification and burden reduction. 
61 FR 4729 (Feb. 7, 1996). Regarding the review required by section 
3(a), section 3(b) of Executive Order 12988 specifically requires that 
Executive agencies make every reasonable effort to ensure that the 
regulation (1) clearly specifies the preemptive effect, if any, (2) 
clearly specifies any effect on existing Federal law or regulation, (3) 
provides a clear legal standard for affected conduct while promoting 
simplification and burden reduction, (4) specifies the retroactive 
effect, if any, (5) adequately defines key terms, and (6) addresses 
other important issues affecting clarity and general draftsmanship 
under any guidelines issued by the Attorney General. Section 3(c) of 
Executive Order 12988 requires Executive agencies to review regulations 
in light of applicable standards in section 3(a) and section 3(b) to 
determine whether they are met or it is unreasonable to meet one or 
more of them. DOE has completed the required review and determined 
that, to the extent permitted by law, this final rule meets the 
relevant standards of Executive Order 12988.

G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) 
requires each Federal agency to assess the effects of Federal 
regulatory actions on State, local, and Tribal governments and the 
private sector. Public Law 104-4, sec. 201 (codified at 2 U.S.C. 1531). 
For a regulatory action likely to result in a rule that may cause the 
expenditure by State, local, and Tribal governments, in the aggregate, 
or by the private sector of $100 million or more in any one year 
(adjusted annually for inflation), section 202 of UMRA requires a 
Federal agency to publish a written statement that estimates the 
resulting costs, benefits, and other effects on the national economy. 
(2 U.S.C. 1532(a), (b)) The UMRA also requires a Federal agency to 
develop an effective process to permit timely input by elected officers 
of State, local, and Tribal governments on a ``significant 
intergovernmental mandate,'' and requires an agency plan for giving 
notice and opportunity for timely input to potentially affected small 
governments before establishing any requirements that might 
significantly or uniquely affect them. On March 18, 1997, DOE published 
a statement of policy on its process for intergovernmental consultation 
under UMRA. 62 FR 12820. DOE's policy statement is also available at 
http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/gcprod/documents/umra_97.pdf. This 
final rule does not contain a Federal intergovernmental mandate, nor is 
it

[[Page 90118]]

expected to require expenditures of $100 million or more in any one 
year by the private sector. As a result, the analytical requirements of 
UMRA do not apply.

H. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 
1999

    Section 654 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations 
Act, 1999 (Pub. L. 105-277) requires Federal agencies to issue a Family 
Policymaking Assessment for any rule that may affect family well-being. 
This final rule would not have any impact on the autonomy or integrity 
of the family as an institution. Accordingly, DOE has concluded that it 
is not necessary to prepare a Family Policymaking Assessment.

I. Review Under Executive Order 12630

    Pursuant to Executive Order 12630, ``Governmental Actions and 
Interference with Constitutionally Protected Property Rights,'' 53 FR 
8859 (March 15, 1988), DOE has determined that this final rule would 
not result in any takings that might require compensation under the 
Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

J. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 
2001

    Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations 
Act, 2001 (44 U.S.C. 3516, note) provides for Federal agencies to 
review most disseminations of information to the public under 
information quality guidelines established by each agency pursuant to 
general guidelines issued by OMB. OMB's guidelines were published at 67 
FR 8452 (Feb. 22, 2002), and DOE's guidelines were published at 67 FR 
62446 (Oct. 7, 2002). DOE has reviewed this final rule under the OMB 
and DOE guidelines and has concluded that it is consistent with 
applicable policies in those guidelines.

K. Review Under Executive Order 13211

    Executive Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use,'' 66 FR 28355 
(May 22, 2001), requires Federal agencies to prepare and submit to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at OMB, a Statement 
of Energy Effects for any significant energy action. A ``significant 
energy action'' is defined as any action by an agency that promulgates 
or is expected to lead to promulgation of a final rule, and that (1) is 
a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866, or any 
successor order; and (2) is likely to have a significant adverse effect 
on the supply, distribution, or use of energy, or (3) is designated by 
the Administrator of OIRA as a significant energy action. For any 
significant energy action, the agency must give a detailed statement of 
any adverse effects on energy supply, distribution, or use should the 
proposal be implemented, and of reasonable alternatives to the action 
and their expected benefits on energy supply, distribution, and use.
    Because this final rule does not amend standards for residential 
dishwashers, it is not a significant energy action, nor has it been 
designated as such by the Administrator at OIRA. Accordingly, DOE has 
not prepared a Statement of Energy Effects.

L. Review Under the Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review

    On December 16, 2004, OMB, in consultation with the Office of 
Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), issued its Final Information 
Quality Bulletin for Peer Review (the Bulletin). 70 FR 2664 (Jan. 14, 
2005). The Bulletin establishes that certain scientific information 
shall be peer reviewed by qualified specialists before it is 
disseminated by the Federal Government, including influential 
scientific information related to agency regulatory actions. The 
purpose of the bulletin is to enhance the quality and credibility of 
the Government's scientific information. Under the Bulletin, the energy 
conservation standards rulemaking analyses are ``influential scientific 
information,'' which the Bulletin defines as ``scientific information 
the agency reasonably can determine will have, or does have, a clear 
and substantial impact on important public policies or private sector 
decisions.'' Id. at FR 2667.
    In response to OMB's Bulletin, DOE conducted formal in-progress 
peer reviews of the energy conservation standards development process 
and analyses and has prepared a Peer Review Report pertaining to the 
energy conservation standards rulemaking analyses. Generation of this 
report involved a rigorous, formal, and documented evaluation using 
objective criteria and qualified and independent reviewers to make a 
judgment as to the technical/scientific/business merit, the actual or 
anticipated results, and the productivity and management effectiveness 
of programs and/or projects. The ``Energy Conservation Standards 
Rulemaking Peer Review Report'' dated February 2007 has been 
disseminated and is available at the following Web site: 
www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/peer-review.

M. Congressional Notification

    As required by 5 U.S.C. 801, DOE will report to Congress on the 
promultagion of this rule prior to its effective date. The report will 
state that it has been determined that the rule is a not a ``major 
rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

VII. Approval of the Office of the Secretary

    The Secretary of Energy has approved publication of this final 
rule.

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 429

    Confidential business information, Energy conservation, Household 
appliances, Imports, Incorporation by reference, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

10 CFR Part 430

    Administrative practice and procedure, Confidential business 
information, Energy conservation, Household appliances, Imports, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, and Small businesses.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on November 22, 2016.
David J. Friedman,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, DOE amends parts 429 and 
430 of chapter II of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as 
set forth below:

PART 429--CERTIFICATION, COMPLIANCE, AND ENFORCEMENT FOR CONSUMER 
PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT

0
1. The authority citation for part 429 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6291-6317; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note.


Sec.  429.4  [Amended]

0
2. Section 429.4 is amended by removing paragraph (b)(1) and 
redesignating paragraphs (b)(2) and (3) as (b)(1) and (2), 
respectively.

0
3. Section 429.19 is amended by revising paragraph (b)(3) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  429.19  Dishwashers.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *

[[Page 90119]]

    (3) Pursuant to Sec.  429.12(b)(13), a certification report shall 
include the following additional product-specific information the 
capacity in number of place settings as specified in ANSI/AHAM DW-1-
2010 (incorporated by reference, see Sec.  429.4), presence of a soil 
sensor (if yes, the number of cycles required to reach calibration), 
the water inlet temperature used for testing in degrees Fahrenheit 
([deg]F), the cycle selected for energy testing and whether that cycle 
is soil-sensing, the options selected for the energy test, and presence 
of a built-in water softening system (if yes, the energy use in 
kilowatt-hours and the water use in gallons required for each 
regeneration of the water softening system, the number of regeneration 
cycles per year, and data and calculations used to derive these 
values).

PART 430--ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS

0
4. The authority citation for part 430 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6291-6309; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note.


Sec.  430.3  [Amended]

0
5. Section 430.3 is amended by removing paragraph (i)(2) and 
redesignating paragraphs (i)(3) through (9) as (i)(2) through (8), 
respectively.

0
6. Section 430.23 is amended by revising paragraph (c) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  430.23   Test procedures for the measurement of energy and water 
consumption.

* * * * *
    (c) Dishwashers. (1) The Estimated Annual Operating Cost (EAOC) for 
dishwashers must be rounded to the nearest dollar per year and is 
defined as follows:
    (i) When cold water (50[emsp14][deg]F) is used,
    (A) For dishwashers having a truncated normal cycle as defined in 
section 1.22 of appendix C1 to this subpart, EAOC = (De x 
ETLP) + (De x N x (M + MWS + 
EF-(ED/2))).
    (B) For dishwashers not having a truncated normal cycle, EAOC = 
(De x ETLP) + (De x N x (M + 
MWS + EF)).

Where,

De = the representative average unit cost of electrical 
energy, in dollars per kilowatt-hour, as provided by the Secretary,
ETLP = the annual combined low-power mode energy 
consumption in kilowatt-hours per year and determined according to 
section 5.7 of appendix C1 to this subpart,
N = the representative average dishwasher use of 215 cycles per 
year,
M = the machine energy consumption per cycle for the normal cycle, 
as defined in section 1.12 of appendix C1 to this subpart, in 
kilowatt-hours and determined according to section 5.1.1 of appendix 
C1 to this subpart for non-soil-sensing dishwashers and section 
5.1.2 of appendix C1 to this subpart for soil-sensing dishwashers,
MWS = the machine energy consumption per cycle for water 
softener regeneration, in kilowatt-hours and determined according to 
section 5.1.3 of appendix C1 to this subpart,
EF = the fan-only mode energy consumption per cycle, in 
kilowatt-hours and determined according to section 5.2 of appendix 
C1 to this subpart, and
ED = the drying energy consumption, in kilowatt-hours and 
defined as energy consumed using the power-dry feature after the 
termination of the last rinse option of the normal cycle; determined 
according to section 5.3 of appendix C1 to this subpart.

    (ii) When electrically-heated water (120[emsp14][deg]F or 
140[emsp14][deg]F) is used,
    (A) For dishwashers having a truncated normal cycle as defined in 
section 1.22 of appendix C1 to this subpart, EAOC = (De x 
ETLP) + (De x N x (M + MWS + 
EF-(ED/2))) + (De x N x (W + 
WWS)).
    (B) For dishwashers not having a truncated normal cycle, EAOC = 
(De x ETLP) + (De x N x (M + 
MWS + EF)) + (De x N x (W + 
WWS)).

Where,

De, ETLP, N, M, MWS, EF, 
and ED, are defined in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this 
section,
W = the water energy consumption per cycle for the normal cycle, as 
defined in section 1.12 of appendix C1 to this subpart, in kilowatt-
hours and determined according to section 5.5.1.1 of appendix C1 to 
this subpart for dishwashers that operate with a nominal 
140[emsp14][deg]F inlet water temperature and section 5.5.2.1 of 
appendix C1 to this subpart for dishwashers that operate with a 
nominal inlet water temperature of 120[emsp14][deg]F, and
    WWS = the water softener regeneration water energy 
consumption per cycle in kilowatt-hours and determined according to 
section 5.5.1.2 of appendix C1 to this subpart for dishwashers that 
operate with a nominal 140[emsp14][deg]F inlet water temperature and 
section 5.5.2.2 of appendix C1 to this subpart for dishwashers that 
operate with a nominal inlet water temperature of 120[emsp14][deg]F.

    (iii) When gas-heated or oil-heated water is used,
    (A) For dishwashers having a truncated normal cycle as defined in 
section 1.22 of appendix C1 to this subpart, EAOCg = 
(De x ETLP) + (De x N x (M + 
MWS + EF-(ED/2))) + (Dg x N 
x (Wg + WWSg)).
    (B) For dishwashers not having a truncated normal cycle, 
EAOCg = (De x ETLP) + (De x 
N x (M + MWS + EF)) + (Dg x N x 
(Wg + WWSg)).

Where,

    De, ETLP, N, M, MWS, 
EF, and ED are defined in paragraph (c)(1)(i) 
of this section,
Dg = the representative average unit cost of gas or oil, 
as appropriate, in dollars per Btu, as provided by the Secretary,
Wg = the water energy consumption per cycle for the 
normal cycle, as defined in section 1.12 of appendix C1 to this 
subpart, in Btus and determined according to section 5.6.1.1 of 
appendix C1 to this subpart for dishwashers that operate with a 
nominal 140[emsp14][deg]F inlet water temperature and section 
5.6.2.1 of appendix C1 to this subpart for dishwashers that operate 
with a nominal inlet water temperature of 120[emsp14][deg]F, and
WWSg = the water softener regeneration energy consumption 
per cycle in Btu per cycle and determined according to section 
5.6.1.2 of appendix C1 to this subpart for dishwashers that operate 
with a nominal 140[emsp14][deg]F inlet water temperature and section 
5.6.2.2 of appendix C1 to this subpart for dishwashers that operate 
with a nominal inlet water temperature of 120[emsp14][deg]F.

    (2) The estimated annual energy use, EAEU, expressed in kilowatt-
hours per year must be rounded to the nearest kilowatt-hour per year 
and is defined as follows:
    (i) For dishwashers having a truncated normal cycle as defined in 
section 1.22 of appendix C1 to this subpart:

EAEU = (M + MWS + EF-(ED/2) + W + 
WWS) x N + (ETLP)

Where,

    M, MWS, ED, N, EF, and 
ETLP are defined in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section, 
and W and WWS are defined in paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this 
section.

    (ii) For dishwashers not having a truncated normal cycle:
EAEU = (M + MWS + EF + W + WWS) x N + 
ETLP

Where,

    M, MWS, N, EF, and ETLP are 
defined in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section, and W and 
WWS are defined in paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section.

    (3) The sum of the water consumption, V, and the water consumption 
during water softener regeneration, VWS, expressed in 
gallons per cycle and defined in section 5.4 of appendix C1 to this 
subpart, must be rounded to one decimal place.
    (4) Other useful measures of energy consumption for dishwashers are 
those which the Secretary determines are likely to assist consumers in 
making purchasing decisions and which are derived from the application 
of appendix C1 to this subpart.
* * * * *

[[Page 90120]]

Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 430--[Removed]

0
7. Appendix C to subpart B of part 430 is removed.

0
8. Appendix C1 is amended by revising the introductory note to read as 
follows:

Appendix C1 to Subpart B of Part 430--Uniform Test Method for Measuring 
the Energy Consumption of Dishwashers

    Note: Manufacturers must test all dishwashers using the 
provisions of Appendix C1 to certify compliance with energy 
conservation standards and to make any other representations related 
to energy and/or water consumption.

* * * * *


Sec.  430.32  [Amended]

0
9. Section 430.32 is amended by:
0
a. Removing paragraph (f)(1) introductory text;
0
b. Removing and reserving paragraph (f)(2); and
0
c. Redesignating paragraph (f)(3) as (f)(1).

[FR Doc. 2016-29328 Filed 12-12-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P